United States General Accounting Office
GAO
Report to Congressional Committees
June 2004
AFGHANISTAN
RECONSTRUCTION
Deteriorating Security
and Limited Resources
Have Impeded
Progress;
Improvements in U.S.
Strategy Needed
GAO-04-403
a
June 2004
`
Highlights of GAO-04-403, a report to the
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
and the House Committee on International
Relations
In October 2001, in response to the
Taliban regime’s protection of al
Qaeda terrorists who attacked the
United States, coalition forces
forcibly removed the regime from
Afghanistan. In December 2002,
Congress passed the Afghanistan
Freedom Support Act authorizing
assistance funds to help
Afghanistan rebuild a stable,
democratic society. The act
directed GAO to monitor the
implementation of U.S.
humanitarian and development
assistance. This report analyzes, for
fiscal years 2002-2003, (1) U.S.
obligations and expenditures in
Afghanistan, (2) results of
assistance projects, (3) the
assistance coordination
mechanisms and strategy, and (4)
major obstacles that affected the
achievement of U.S. goals.
To improve oversight, GAO
recommends that USAID revise its
strategy to delineate goals,
resource levels, and a schedule of
program evaluations. GAO also
recommends that State produce an
annual consolidated budget report
and semiannual reports on
obligations and expenditures. In its
comments, USAID committed to
preparing a more detailed strategy.
State commented that it considers
its financial reporting sufficient.
We continue to believe
improvements are needed.
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-403.
To view the full product, including the scope
and methodology, click on the link above.
For more information, contact David Gootnick
at (202) 512-3149, or GootnickD@gao.gov.
AFGHANISTAN RECONSTRUCTION
Deteriorating Security and Limited
Resources Have Impeded Progress;
Improvements in U.S. Strategy Needed
Of the $900 million that the U.S. government spent on nonsecurity-related
assistance in Afghanistan in fiscal years 2002-2003, over 75 percent supported
humanitarian efforts, including emergency food and shelter, and over 20 percent
supported longer-term reconstruction. USAID, the Department of State, and the
Department of Defense spent $508 million, $254 million, and $64 million,
respectively, for humanitarian, quick-impact, and some longer-term projects.
U.S. funding represented about 38 percent of the $3.7 billion the international
community disbursed over the 2-year period.
U.S. humanitarian and short-term assistance benefited Afghanistan, but longerterm reconstruction efforts achieved limited results by the end of fiscal year
2003 due to late funding. By providing food and shelter to returning refugees and
other vulnerable populations, early U.S. assistance helped avert a humanitarian
crisis. USAID’s and Defense’s quick-impact projects also helped rebuild smallscale infrastructure such as schools and bridges. USAID initiated several longerterm reconstruction activities, such as repairing the Kabul–Kandahar road and
starting a democracy program. However, because of delays in funding most
major assistance contracts were not signed until summer 2003, limiting the
results in fiscal years 2002-2003.
U.S. coordination mechanisms for Afghanistan assistance were generally
effective, but international assistance was not well coordinated in fiscal years
2002-2003. In addition, the United States lacked a complete and integrated
assistance strategy, which hampered the U.S. government’s ability to focus
available resources and hold itself accountable for measurable results. Further,
U.S. officials responsible for coordinating efforts lacked complete financial data,
which hindered their ability to oversee the assistance.
In fiscal years 2002-2003, Afghanistan confronted many obstacles that other
postconflict nations have faced, such as multiple competing parties. In addition,
security deteriorated and opium production increased, thereby jeopardizing U.S.
reconstruction efforts. Lack of staff, poor working conditions, and delayed
reconstruction funding further impeded U.S. efforts. (See fig. 1.) In September
2003, to expedite progress, the U.S. government announced the “Accelerating
Success” initiative, providing $1.76 billion for reconstruction in 2004.
Obstacles to U.S. Reconstruction Efforts in Afghanistan, Fiscal Years 2002-2003
Contents
Letter
Results in Brief
Background
U.S. Funding Focused on Humanitarian Aid, Represented Sizable
Portion of International Assistance
U.S. Humanitarian Assistance Helped Avert Famine; Longer-term
Reconstruction Efforts Had Limited Results
Coordination Mechanisms Established, but U.S. Strategy and
Financial Data Were Incomplete; International Assistance
Coordination Remained Weak
Achievement of U.S. Goals Uncertain Given Precedents, Obstacles
1
2
5
10
16
30
Conclusions
Recommendations for Executive Action
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
39
54
54
55
Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
58
Summary of the Key Provisions of the Bonn Agreement
62
Summary of the Afghanistan Freedom Support Act of 2002
65
Fiscal Years 2002-2003 Obligations and Expenditures for
Humanitarian and Reconstruction Assistance by U.S.
Agencies
69
Major Donors’ Reported Pledges and Disbursements for
Assistance to Afghanistan for Fiscal Years 2002-2003
70
Comments from the Department of State
72
Comments from the U.S. Agency for International
Development
75
GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments
GAO Contacts
Staff Acknowledgments
80
80
80
Appendixes
Appendix I:
Appendix II:
Appendix III:
Appendix IV:
Appendix V:
Appendix VI:
Appendix VII:
Appendix VIII:
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Contents
Tables
Figures
Table 1: Development Indicators for Afghanistan versus the
Average for Low-Income Countries and the United States
Table 2: Total assistance authorized: $3.3 billion between FY 2003
and 2006
Table 3: Earmarks: $170 million development assistance of $425
million total between FY 2003 and 2006
Table 4: Required strategies and reports to be submitted to the
House Committee on International Relations, Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations, and both Appropriations
committees
Figure 1: Map of Afghanistan, Including Provinces and Major
Roads
Figure 2: Political History of Afghanistan, 1749–2004
Figure 3: Obligations and Expenditures, by Type, Fiscal Years
2002–2003
Figure 4: Percentages of U.S. Reconstruction Assistance Expended
by Agencies, Fiscal Years 2002–2003
Figure 5: USAID and Defense (PRT) Obligations and Number of
Projects, by Province
Figure 6: U.S. Assistance as a Percentage of International
Assistance
Figure 7: WFP Distribution of U.S.-Provided Food in
Afghanistan
Figure 8: Fatmasti Irrigation Canal outside Bamian, Afghanistan
Figure 9: PRT-Funded Construction of Provincial-level College in
Bamian Province, Afghanistan
Figure 10: Infrastructure Rehabilitation
Figure 11: Economic Governance
Figure 12: Health Care
Figure 13: Education
Figure 14: Agriculture
Figure 15: Democracy Strengthening
Figure 16: Gender Equity
Figure 17: Major U.S. Interagency Afghan Assistance Coordination
Mechanisms In Use During Fiscal Years 2002–2003
Figure 18: International Afghan Assistance Coordination
Mechanisms, Fiscal Years 2002–2003
Figure 19: Postconflict Characteristics That Impeded Stability in
Other Countries Versus Afghanistan
Page ii
7
66
67
68
6
8
11
12
14
15
17
19
21
22
24
25
26
27
28
29
31
38
40
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Contents
Figure 20: Time Line of USAID Funding for Reconstruction
Assistance to Afghanistan
Figure 21: Division of Responsibility for Repairing the 482-kilometer
Kabul-Kandahar Highway
49
53
Abbreviations
HHS
IOM
OFDA
OTI
PRT
RAMP
REACH
REFS
U.N.
UNDP
USAID
WFP
Health and Human Services
International Organization for Migration
Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
Office of Transition Initiatives
Provincial Reconstruction Team
Rebuilding Agricultural Markets Program
Rural Expansion of Afghanistan’s Community-Based Health
Care
Rehabilitation of Economic Facilities and Services Program
United Nations
United Nations Development Program
United States Agency for International Development
U.N. World Food Program
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Page iii
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
A
United States General Accounting Office
Washington, D.C. 20548
June 2, 2004
Leter
The Honorable Richard G. Lugar
Chairman
The Honorable Joseph R. Biden
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Foreign Relations
United States Senate
The Honorable Henry J. Hyde
Chairman
The Honorable Tom Lantos
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on International Relations
House of Representatives
Twenty-three years of war and destructive domestic policies and more than
5 years of drought destroyed Afghanistan’s government, judicial, economic,
and social institutions and its transportation, health, sanitation, and other
infrastructure. In October 2001, responding to its protection of al Qaeda
terrorists who had attacked the United States, Coalition forces forcibly
removed the Taliban regime. With the passage of the Afghanistan Freedom
Support Act in December 2002, Congress authorized the use of federal
funds for the delivery of humanitarian, development, and security
assistance to Afghanistan.1 The act articulates U.S. policy goals in
Afghanistan that include the creation of a stable Afghan society that is not a
threat to itself or others and is not a base for terrorism.
1
Title I of P.L. 107-327 pertains to humanitarian and development assistance; Title II, to
security assistance; and Title III, to miscellaneous provisions. As mandated by the act, this
report focuses on Title I–related assistance. For the purposes of this report, humanitarian
assistance refers to the provision of emergency assistance that meets people’s needs for
adequate water, sanitation, nutrition, food, shelter, and health care. Quick impact projects
refer to short-term assistance that helps transition Afghanistan from the humanitarian to
development assistance—longer-term reconstruction projects.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Section 106 of the act directs the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) to
monitor U.S. humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan.
To meet this requirement and provide Congress with a comprehensive
accounting of U.S. humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to
Afghanistan for the fiscal year 2002-2003 period, we (1) analyzed U.S.
obligations and expenditures; (2) identified the results of assistance
projects through September 30, 2003; (3) evaluated U.S. and international
assistance coordination mechanisms and the U.S. assistance strategy; and
(4) examined the major obstacles that affected the achievement of U.S.
policy goals and the reconstruction effort.2
To address these issues, we collected and analyzed information from the
U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services,
Justice, State, and Treasury; the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID); the United Nations (U.N.); the Afghan government; and
nongovernmental organizations and private contractors responsible for
implementing U.S. government–funded projects. This effort included
analyzing data on obligations and expenditures by U.S. government
agencies that provided assistance to Afghanistan in fiscal years 2002 and
2003. We conducted reliability checks on the financial data provided by
U.S. agencies and, based on these checks, concluded that the data are
sufficiently reliable for the purposes used. Because the U.S. assistance is
provided as part of a larger international effort, we included information on
the contributions provided by international donors. Finally, we traveled to
Afghanistan in October 2003 to examine U.S. assistance-related operations
in country. While in Afghanistan, we spoke with officials from U.S., U.N.,
and nongovernmental organizations; private contractors; and the Afghan
government. However, the number and location of project sites we visited
in Afghanistan was limited because of Department of State security
restrictions. We conducted our review from August 2003 through April
2004 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards. (For further details of our scope and methodology, see app. I.)
Results in Brief
In fiscal years 2002–2003, the U.S. obligated $1.4 billion and spent $900
million, or more than half its obligations for nonsecurity-related assistance
to Afghanistan. Of the $900 million that the U.S. government spent, over 75
2
The U.S. fiscal year covers the 12-month period October 1 through September 30. In this
report, “international community” is defined as the collective grouping of bilateral,
multilateral, and international assistance agencies and nongovernmental organizations.
Page 2
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
percent supported short-term, humanitarian assistance, including
emergency food and shelter, and over 20 percent supported longer-term
reconstruction needs. USAID, the largest provider of nonsecurity-related
assistance, spent about $508 million on both humanitarian and
reconstruction projects. During the same period, the Department of State
spent $254 million, mainly on refugee and humanitarian assistance, and the
Department of Defense spent $64 million on food assistance and quickimpact projects. Most of the funding by USAID and Defense supported
local projects in 31 of Afghanistan’s 32 provinces, particularly in 4 of the
most heavily populated. Overall, U.S. funding represented about 38 percent
of the $3.7 billion disbursed by the international community for
nonsecurity-related assistance to Afghanistan in fiscal years 2002–2003.
U.S. humanitarian and small-scale, quick-impact projects benefited
Afghanistan in fiscal years 2002–2003, but longer-term reconstruction
efforts had achieved limited results by the end of fiscal year 2003 due to
delayed funding. USAID and the Departments of Agriculture and State
provided humanitarian assistance, including emergency food, health care,
sanitation, and shelter, which helped avert a famine and reintegrate
returning refugees. In addition, to assist Afghanistan in its transition from
humanitarian relief to reconstruction of its infrastructure and civil society,
USAID and Defense implemented small-scale, quick-impact projects such
as renovating or rebuilding schools, clinics, bridges, and irrigation canals.
Further, under USAID’s leadership, a number of longer-term reconstruction
activities in a number of sectors achieved limited results. However, notable
accomplishments include building a road from Kabul to Kandahar,
establishing a democracy and governance program, and helping farmers
reestablish farm production.
Although the U.S. government established coordination mechanisms for its
assistance efforts in Afghanistan in fiscal years 2002-2003, it lacked a
complete operational strategy; in addition, coordination of international
assistance was weak. A number of mechanisms to coordinate U.S.
assistance were established and, in general, U.S. officials believed that U.S.
assistance was well coordinated. The United States did not have a
comprehensive strategy to direct its assistance efforts until June 2003. In
addition, USAID’s operational strategy did not clearly articulate
measurable goals or other details. U.S. officials responsible for
coordinating assistance efforts also lacked financial data necessary for
program oversight and coordination. Without a comprehensive strategy or
adequate financial data, the ability of the U.S. government to ensure
progress toward development goals and make informed resource
Page 3
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
allocation decisions was impaired. Further, international assistance was
not well coordinated in 2002, and efforts by the Afghan government to
improve coordination in 2003 had not succeeded.
In fiscal years 2002–2003, the postconflict environment in Afghanistan
threatened progress toward U.S. policy goals, and poor security, increasing
opium cultivation, and inadequate resources impeded U.S. reconstruction
efforts. Afghanistan faces many of the same obstacles that other nations
have faced after civil conflict, such as multiple competing parties.
Throughout fiscal years 2002–2003, terrorists attacked U.S., international,
and Afghan government targets, and criminal activity by warlords and
clashes between rival factions increased the overall climate of insecurity. In
addition, record levels of opium production and associated revenues
threatened Afghanistan’s stability by funding the activities of terrorists and
warlords. Further, small staff size, inadequate working conditions, and the
timing of funding for reconstruction impeded U.S. efforts. To increase
funding and expedite progress, in September 2003, the U.S. government
announced an initiative called “Accelerating Success” that would provide
an additional $1.76 billion for reconstruction projects in Afghanistan in
fiscal year 2004.
We are recommending that USAID revise its operational strategy for its
assistance program in Afghanistan. The revised strategy should delineate
measurable goals, specific time frames, resource levels, external factors
that could significantly affect the achievement of goals, and a schedule for
program evaluations that assess progress against the strategy’s goals. To
improve management and oversight of U.S. assistance to Afghanistan, we
are also recommending that the Department of State produce an annual
consolidated budget for all U.S. assistance to Afghanistan and report to
Congress semiannually on obligations and expenditures for the assistance
provided.
We provided a draft of this report to the Departments of State and Defense
and to USAID. State and USAID commented that they concurred with
much of the information presented on the situation in Afghanistan for the
period covered by our review. They also provided additional information
on more recent activities taken and progress made. USAID and the
Department of Defense also provided technical comments, which we
incorporated where appropriate.
In response to our recommendation that USAID revise its operational
strategy for Afghanistan to include details such as measurable goals,
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
timeframes, and required resources, USAID said that its less
comprehensive “interim” strategy was appropriate given the situation in
Afghanistan during the early phases of the ongoing efforts. Nonetheless,
USAID said that it was committed to developing a standard strategic plan
for Afghanistan during 2004, which is consistent with our recommendation.
The Department of State disagreed with our finding that the United States
lacks a complete and integrated assistance strategy, citing its December 15,
2003, report to Congress “Fiscal Year 2004 Strategic and Financial Plan for
Reconstruction and Related Activities in Afghanistan” as meeting this need.
We found that most of the strategies that were published during fiscal years
2002-2003 lacked details on funding and other resources, measurable goals,
timeframes, as well as a means to measure progress. However, in the
report, we cite the State Department’s June 2003 Mission Performance Plan
as meeting many of the requirements for a government-wide operational
strategy. While the fiscal year 2004 plan cited by the State Department in its
comments includes more details on the U.S. assistance budget for
Afghanistan, it lacks operational details including time frames, measurable
goals, and a means to measure progress towards those goals.
In response to our recommendation that State produce an annual
consolidated budget for all U.S. assistance to Afghanistan and report to
Congress semiannually on obligations and expenditures, State emphasized
that policy makers are provided with information on U.S. obligations
weekly and that there is close interagency collaboration on all funding
issues. We disagree. As we reported, complete and readily accessible
obligation and expenditure data was not available and consequently, it is
difficult to determine the extent to which U.S. assistance dollars are being
used to achieve measurable results on the ground in Afghanistan.
Specifically, we found that (1) governmentwide expenditure data on U.S.
assistance to Afghanistan is not collected, (2) obligation data are collected
on an ad hoc basis, and (3) the Coordinator’s office experienced difficulty
in consistently collecting complete and accurate obligation data from U.S.
government agencies. Regular reporting of both obligations and
expenditures for U.S. assistance to Afghanistan would provide the State
Coordinator and Congress a more complete picture of what funds have
been spent on the ground on visible projects.
Background
Afghanistan is a mountainous, arid, land-locked country with limited
natural resources, bordered by Pakistan to the east and south; Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and China to the north; and Iran to the west
(see fig. 1). At 647,500 square kilometers, Afghanistan is slightly smaller
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
than the state of Texas; its population, estimated at 27.8 million, is
ethnically diverse, largely rural, and mostly uneducated. The country is
divided into 32 provinces, over 300 districts, and approximately 30,000
villages.
Figure 1: Map of Afghanistan, Including Provinces and Major Roads
TA J I K I S TA N
CHINA
U Z B E K I S TA N
T U R K M E N I S TA N
Jowzan
Kunduz
Badakshan
Takhar
Balkh
Samangan
Baghlan
Faryab
Sar-e-pol
Nuristan
Parwan
Badghis
Ghor
Hirat
Bamian
Kapisa
Wardak
Nangahar
Lowgar
A F G H A N I S TA N
IRAN
Konar
Laghman
Kabul
Paktia
Ghazni
Khost
Oruzgan
Farah
Zabul
Helmand
Paktika
PA K I S TA N
Nimruz
Kandahar
INDIA
Ring road
Source: GAO.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Afghanistan is an extremely poor country. As shown in table 1,
development indicators published by the World Bank and the U.N. rank
Afghanistan at the bottom of virtually every category, including
malnutrition; infant, child, and maternal mortality; life expectancy; and
literacy.
Table 1: Development Indicators for Afghanistan versus the Average for Low-Income Countries and the United States
Indicator
Afghanistana
Average, lowincome countryb
United States
Infant mortality
165 per 1000 live births
80 per 1000 live births
7 per 1000 live births
Under 5 mortality
257 per 1000 live births
121 per 1000 live births
8 per 1000 live births
Maternal mortality
1600 per 100,000 live births
671 per 100,000 live births
17 per 100,000 live births
Life expectancy
43 males/44 females
58 males/60 females
75 males/81 females
Percentage of children under 12 months
45 %
immunized against diphtheria and measles
60 %
93 %
Percentage of population undernourished
70 %
25 %
N/A
Percentage of rural population with access
to improved water source
11 %
69 %
100 %
Percentage of rural population with access
to improved proper sanitation
8%
31 %
100 %
Literacy—age 15 and over
51 % males/
21 % females
72 % males/
53 % females
97 % males/
97 % females
Sources: The World Bank and U.N.
a
Data as of most recent year available.
b
Low-income countries are defined as countries with an annual per capita gross national income of
less than $735. (Afghanistan’s 2002 per capita gross national income was $250).
Over the last 2 decades, political conflicts ravaged Afghanistan. The
country was subject to ethnic rivalry led by provincial warlords,
communist invasion, and fundamental Islamic control, all of which limited
development (see fig. 2). Factional control of the country following the
withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, coupled with the population’s fatigue
of fighting, allowed a fundamental Islamic group, the Taliban, to seize
control of the country. Although the Taliban regime provided some political
stability during the late 1990s, its destructive policies, highlighted in its
repressive treatment of women, and its continuing war with the opposition
Northern Alliance further impeded international aid and development.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Figure 2: Political History of Afghanistan, 1749–2004
1740
1900
1970
1980
1990
1749-1919
1919-1973
1973-1978
1978-1992
Internal upheaval
and
British imperialism
Monarchy
Military
dictatorship
Communism
1749
Durrani a
tribe
begins
rule
1919
Afghan
independence
from British
control
1979
Soviet
invasion
2000
1992-1996 1996-2001
Anarchy
and
civil war
1989
Soviet
withdrawal
Religious
fascism:
Taliban
Transitioning
to democracy
2001
U.S. and
coalition forces
remove
Taliban
Source: GAO.
a
The Durrani tribe ruled over most of what is present-day Afghanistan—despite domestic turmoil and
foreign encroachment—from 1749 through 1978.
In December 2001, less than 2 months after U.S. and coalition forces
forcibly removed the Taliban regime, an international summit in Bonn,
Germany, established a framework for a new Afghan government,3 which
focused on an ambitious 30-month timeline for writing a new constitution
by the end of October 2003 and holding democratic elections by June 2004.4
The framework, known as the Bonn Agreement, was endorsed by the U.N.
Security Council on December 6, 2001, through UN Resolution 1383. (See
app. II for additional information on the Bonn Agreement.)
In December 2002, the United States passed the Afghanistan Freedom
Support Act of 2002 and increased its assistance to Afghanistan. (See app.
III for details on the types and purposes of the assistance authorized by the
act.) The goal of the U.S. government in Afghanistan is to firmly establish a
democratic nation inhospitable to international terrorism, drug trafficking
and cultivation; at peace with its neighbors; and able to provide its own
internal and external security. U.S. efforts in support of this goal are
intended to help create national security institutions, provide humanitarian
and reconstruction assistance, and reinforce the primacy of the central
3
This report refers to the Afghan Interim Authority and the Transitional Islamic State of
Afghanistan as the government of Afghanistan.
4
President Karzai announced in March 2004 that the elections would be postponed until
September 2004.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
government over Afghanistan’s provinces. Title I, Section 104(a) of the act
states that in general, the President is strongly urged to designate, within
the Department of State, a coordinator who shall among other things be
responsible for
• designing an overall strategy to advance U.S. interests in Afghanistan;
• ensuring program and policy coordination among U.S. agencies carrying
out the policies set forth in this title;
• pursuing Afghanistan assistance coordination with other countries and
international organizations; and
• ensuring proper management, implementation, and oversight by
agencies responsible for Afghan assistance programs.
USAID5 provides U.S. assistance to underdeveloped countries through U.N.
agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and private contractors. The
main organizational units responsible for managing USAID’s reconstruction
programs and operations in Afghanistan in fiscal years 2002–2003 were the
agency’s mission in Kabul, Afghanistan; the Bureau for Asia and the Near
East; and the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian
Assistance through the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, Office of
Food for Peace, Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), and Office for
Democracy and Governance.6 Other U.S. government agencies provided
additional assistance, including the Department of Defense through its
provincial reconstruction teams (PRT) located at sites throughout
Afghanistan. In fiscal years 2002–2003, the PRTs ranged in size from 50 to
100 civilian and military personnel, including civil affairs units, force
protection soldiers, and representatives of the Departments of Agriculture
and State and USAID. The teams are intended to deliver assistance that
5
USAID is the principal U.S. agency that provides foreign assistance to countries recovering
from disaster, escaping poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms.
6
The Bureau for Asia and the Near East is one of four USAID geographic bureaus that are
responsible for activities in the countries within the geographic region. The USAID mission
in Kabul, Afghanistan, falls under the jurisdiction of the bureau. The Bureau for Democracy,
Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance’s mission is to save lives, alleviate suffering, support
democracy, and promote opportunities for people adversely affected by poverty, conflict,
natural disasters, and a breakdown of good governance. OTI provides short-term assistance
to pre- and posttransition countries experiencing significant political change or facing
critical threats to stability and democratic reform.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
advances military goals and provide security in an effort to increase the
reach of the Afghan central government in the provinces and allow
assistance agencies to implement projects. By late 2003, Defense
established PRTs in Bamian, Kunduz, Gardez, and Mazar-I-Sharif.
U.S. Funding Focused
on Humanitarian Aid,
Represented Sizable
Portion of
International
Assistance
In fiscal years 2002–2003, the United States spent the majority of its
nonsecurity-related funding to Afghanistan on humanitarian and quickimpact projects, and it contributed approximately one-third of the
international funding disbursed in Afghanistan.7 Of the 10 U.S. agencies
providing assistance to Afghanistan, USAID provided the largest amount,
for both humanitarian and reconstruction assistance, and the Department
of State provided the second largest amount, primarily for humanitarian
assistance. USAID and the Department of Defense obligated8 a total of $283
million for nationwide programs and $564 million for localized program
assistance in 31 provinces. The United States accounted for 38 percent of
the $3.7 billion in nonsecurity-related international funding disbursed in
Afghanistan in fiscal years 2002–2003.9
U.S. Assistance Focused on
Humanitarian and QuickImpact Projects
The U.S. government obligated $1.4 billion for assistance to Afghanistan in
fiscal years 2002–2003, including $782 million for humanitarian and quickimpact projects and $647 million for strategic, longer-term reconstruction
projects. U.S. agencies spent10 $900 million, of which $686 million, or over
75 percent, was spent on humanitarian and quick-impact projects and
about $214 million, or over 20 percent, was spent on longer-term
reconstruction needs. (See fig. 3.)
7
See appendix IV for a list of the agencies and their assistance funding.
8
For the purposes of this report, obligations are defined as amounts of orders placed,
contracts awarded, services received, and similar transactions during a given period that
will require payments during the same or a future period.
9
According to State officials,the Department of State does not track international
obligations and expenditures and defines disbursements as monies that have moved beyond
pledges. In this report, we consider an international disbursement as including both
obligations and expenditures. See appendix V for detailed information on international
pledges and disbursements.
10
For the purposes of this report, expenditures are defined as the issuance of checks,
disbursement of cash, or electronic transfer of funds made to liquidate a federal obligation.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Figure 3: Obligations and Expenditures, by Type, Fiscal Years 2002–2003
Dollars in millions
900
782
800
686
700
647
600
500
400
300
214
200
100
0
Humanitarian/
quick impact
Reconstruction
Fiscal years 2002 and 2003 obligations
Fiscal years 2002 and 2003 expenditures
Source: GAO.
USAID and State Provided
Most U.S. Assistance
Of the 10 U.S. government departments and agencies involved in assistance
to Afghanistan in fiscal years 2002–2003,USAID provided the largest
amount of assistance, for both humanitarian and reconstruction needs.
USAID obligated $942 million, of which it spent about $508 million by
September 2003. It provided both short-term assistance—emergency,
humanitarian, and quick-impact projects—and longer-term reconstruction
and development-oriented assistance, such as revitalizing infrastructure,
improving health and education, strengthening the economy, and
supporting democracy and governance. The Department of State provided
the next largest amount, obligating $287 million in fiscal years 2002-2003
and spending $254 million of that amount. State’s programs were targeted
mainly to refugee and humanitarian assistance, including demining, and
also included funding for counterdrug programs and building a police
force. The Department of Defense obligated $71 million and spent $64
million, primarily for provincial-level, short-term projects implemented
through its PRTs and for humanitarian daily rations that it air-dropped early
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
in fiscal year 2002. In addition, seven other U.S. government agencies
obligated $128 million and spent $74 million for a variety of both
humanitarian and reconstruction activities. (See fig. 4.)
Figure 4: Percentages of U.S. Reconstruction Assistance Expended by Agencies,
Fiscal Years 2002–2003
Total expenditures: $900
(dollars in millions)
USAID $508
Other USG $36
USDA $38
4% 4%
Department of Defense $64
7%
State Department $254
56%
USAID
USDA
USG
28%
U.S. Agency for International Development
U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. government
Source: GAO.
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Most Funding Supported
Provincial Projects
In an effort to expand the reach of the Afghan government—a major U.S.
and Afghan government priority—most USAID and Defense assistance
funding was spent on projects implemented at the provincial level.
Specifically, USAID and Defense obligated $283 million for nationwide
programs and $564 million for provincial-level assistance across 31
provinces.11 Kabul received the most provincial-level assistance, $70.4
million for 148 projects, while Konar received the least, $121,350 for one
project. Although assistance was provided in virtually all of Afghanistan’s
provinces, 12 five provinces received approximately half of provincial-level
program assistance. Four of these provinces—Kabul, Kandahar, Balkh, and
Hirat—have major population centers, and the fifth, Badakshan, is
increasingly important to the opium trade. (See fig. 5.)
11
USAID obligation data is from an agency database as of Sept. 17, 2003. The agency’s
database does not include the additional $150 million that were obligated in the last 13 days
of fiscal year 2003. According to USAID, the share of funding per province would have
remained relatively constant over the 13 days. The Department of Defense obligations are
as of December 2003. Defense officials stated they could not break out the funds by fiscal
year.
12
Afghanistan has 32 provinces. Only 1 province, Nuristan, received no assistance at the
provincial level, although it may have benefited from national programs.
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Figure 5: USAID and Defense (PRT) Obligations and Number of Projects, by Province
TA J I K I S TA N
CHINA
U Z B E K I S TA N
T U R K M E N I S TA N
Jowzan
15
Kunduz
57
Balkh
57
Samangan
21
Faryab
33
Hirat
73
Badghis
16
Sar-e-pol
10
Ghor
13
Bamian
85
A F G H A N I S TA N
IRAN
Farah
9
Zabul
9
Badakshan
16
Baghlan
22
Nuristan
0
Kapisa
Konar
8 Laghman
1
9
Kabul
148
Wardak
Nangahar
15
Lowgar
50
8
Parwan
134
Paktia
84 Khost
17
Ghazni
23
Oruzgan
15
Takhar
22
Paktika
19
PA K I S TA N
More than $40 million
Nimruz
7
Helmand
15
Kandahar
82
$20-$40 million
$10-$20 million
Less than $10 million
N = number of projects
Constructed section of ring road
INDIA
Other roads
Source: GAO.
Note: The figure above does not include the Department of Defense’s humanitarian food drops
conducted in fiscal year 2002.
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U.S. Was Largest
International Donor
In fiscal years 2002–2003, international donors pledged $9.7 billion for
assistance to Afghanistan. (See app. V for details.) International
disbursements for the 2-year period totaled approximately $3.7 billion, of
which U.S. obligations accounted for approximately 38 percent, or $1.4
billion—the largest amount donated (see fig. 6). Like U.S. funding, most
international funding was directed to meet humanitarian needs rather than
major reconstruction efforts. According to the Center on International
Cooperation, as of May 2003, $947 million of the international
disbursements had been used to begin reconstruction projects.13
Figure 6: U.S. Assistance as a Percentage of International Assistance
31 other donors combined
United States
30%
38%
5%
5%
10%
12%
Japan
European commission
Germany
United Kingdom
Source: GAO analysis of Department of State data.
13
The Center on International Cooperation is a nongovernmental organization that seeks to
inform public debate by examining international justice, humanitarian assistance, and
postconflict peace-building.
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U.S. Humanitarian
Assistance Helped
Avert Famine; Longerterm Reconstruction
Efforts Had Limited
Results
In fiscal years 2002-2003, humanitarian and quick-impact assistance
benefited Afghanistan, but longer-term reconstruction efforts achieved
limited results. U.S. humanitarian aid helped overcome emergency
conditions and jump-start the recovery effort. In addition, quick-impact
projects helped Afghanistan transition from the emergency to the
reconstruction phase. However, because of delayed funding, most major
contracts for reconstruction activities were not signed until summer 2003,
limiting the results achieved by the end of that fiscal year.
Humanitarian Assistance
Helped Vulnerable
Populations and Averted
Famine
In fiscal years 2002–2003, to help redress the complex humanitarian crisis
in Afghanistan, the U.S. government provided emergency assistance that
helped avert a famine, significantly reduce the suffering of the most
vulnerable Afghans, and assist the return of refugees. USAID’s Office of
Food for Peace provided Afghanistan with 355,270 metric tons of wheat
and other emergency food assistance (valued at $206.4 million) through P.L.
480, Title II, and the Department of Agriculture provided 79,600 metric tons
of surplus wheat (valued at $38.7 million) through the 416(b) program.14
The United States provided most of its food assistance to Afghanistan
through the U.N. World Food Program (WFP),15 as well as the U.N. Food
and Agriculture Organization and nongovernmental organizations. (See fig.
7.) Over the 2-year period, the United States provided over 60 percent of all
international food assistance received by Afghanistan. According to the
WFP, the food assistance provided by the United States and the
international community helped avert famine in Afghanistan.16
14
Title II of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 as amended (P.L.
480) authorizes USAID to donate agricultural commodities to meet international emergency
relief requirements and carry out nonemergency feeding programs overseas. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture provides surplus commodities to countries under section 416(b)
of the Agricultural Act of 1949. U.S. contributions consist of in-kind donations of
commodities such as white wheat and cash donations to cover the cost of transporting the
commodities from the United States to Afghanistan.
15
Between October and December 2001, the Department of Defense also dropped 2,489,880
humanitarian daily rations, each of which contained a complete set of meals for one day for
one person, totaling approximately 2,200 calories. The Department of Defense stated the
total cost of the ration effort to be $50,897,769.
16
For additional information on U.S. food and agriculture assistance to Afghanistan in fiscal
years 2002—2003, see U.S. General Accounting Office, Foreign Assistance: Lack of
Strategic Focus and Obstacles to Agricultural Recovery Threaten Afghanistan’s Stability,
GAO-03-607 (Washington, D.C.: June 2003).
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Figure 7: WFP Distribution of U.S.-Provided Food in Afghanistan
USAID also provided other emergency assistance in fiscal years 2002–2003.
According to USAID reports, the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
provided $137.8 million to meet the basic needs of internally displaced
people and other vulnerable Afghans. The funding supported health and
nutrition programs, agricultural and other income-generating rehabilitative
work in rural areas, and logistics for coordinating humanitarian and food
assistance countrywide. According to USAID, the office, through its cashfor-work programs, supported more than 4,000 small rehabilitation
projects, including repairs to approximately 2,600 kilometers of roads,
1,500 wells and irrigation systems, and more than 100 schools and
hospitals, benefiting selected communities throughout the country.
The Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
provided $234 million to assist returning refugees. This assistance,
disbursed primarily through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees,
supported the voluntary return and reintegration of 2.2 million refugees
and internally displaced people to their homes in Afghanistan. The U.S.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
assistance also provided shelter; water and sanitation; primary,
reproductive, maternal, and child health care; food and nutrition; primary
education; mine education and awareness; and economic assistance and
training to refugees and internally displaced people.
Quick-Impact Projects
Transitioned U.S. Assistance
from Relief to
Reconstruction
USAID’s OTI17 and the Department of Defense’s PRTs implemented smallscale, quick-impact projects. These projects aimed to extend the reach of
the Afghan central government by providing benefits to rural communities
and to facilitate the transition to longer-term reconstruction programs.
Both OTI and the PRTs engaged in clinic and school reconstruction, bridge
rehabilitation, irrigation construction, and other locally determined, smallscale projects.
In fiscal years 2002–2003, OTI expended $18 million for 435 projects. (On
average, each project cost $42,465.) By October 2003, 66 percent of the
projects had been completed. In a November 2003 assessment, OTI
concluded that its efforts had increased the Afghan state’s ability to
function, enhanced the independent media’s ability to promote public
information, and facilitated infrastructure improvements in hundreds of
communities. However, OTI also concluded that these gains had not yet
achieved its objective of building citizen confidence in the ability of the
central Afghan government. Few Afghans interviewed by OTI during the
assessment were aware that the U.S. government or the Afghan central
government had supported a specific project. (See fig. 8 for an example of
an OTI project.)
17
OTI works to strengthen the Afghan government’s capacity to govern effectively and
accountably; expand citizen and community participation in decision making; support
voices of moderation and peace; and increase the availability and quality of public
information.
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Figure 8: Fatmasti Irrigation Canal outside Bamian, Afghanistan
Source: GAO.
Note: A USAID OTI grant of $25,139 funded the rehabilitation of the 2.5 kilometer Fatmasti irrigation
canal in Bamian province. The canal irrigates 60 hectares of land and benefits 600 families (or
approximately 3,600 individuals).
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The Department of Defense’s quick-impact projects were similar in size and
scope to those implemented by USAID’s OTI. In fiscal years 2002–2003,
Defense granted $20 million for 451 projects in Afghanistan through its
PRTs.18 (On average, the projects cost $45,000 each.) Sixty-four percent of
them were completed by December 2003. The PRTs implemented projects
designed to help (1) advance U.S. military goals, (2) build goodwill among
the local population, (3) increase the visibility of U.S. support, and (4)
extend the reach of the Afghan central government. Although no formal
evaluation of the overall PRT effort had been completed as of October
2003, officials at the Departments of State and Defense said that the
activities of civil affairs teams appeared to have a positive effect on
security and were a useful tool for expanding local support for both the
U.S. presence and the Afghan government. However, the Agency
Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief reported that as currently structured,
the PRTs lack the resources or mandate to either solve the security
situation in Afghanistan or significantly contribute to reconstruction.19 (Fig.
9 shows one example of a PRT project.)
18
In each PRT, a military civil affairs team is responsible for implementing aid projects.
19
Policy Brief: Provincial Reconstruction Teams and the Security Situation in
Afghanistan (Kabul: July 24, 2003.) Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief is a
nongovernmental organization coordinating body in Afghanistan with a membership of 68
international and Afghan nongovernmental organizations.
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Figure 9: PRT-Funded Construction of Provincial-level College in Bamian Province,
Afghanistan
Source: GAO.
Nascent Longer-Term
Reconstruction Efforts
Achieved Limited Results
USAID’s longer-term reconstruction efforts in fiscal years 2002–2003
achieved limited results because of delays in funding. To help the Afghan
government extend its influence throughout the country, USAID organized
its longer-term assistance into six sectors: infrastructure rehabilitation,
economic governance, democracy strengthening, education, health, and
agriculture.20 The agency also integrated elements to promote gender
equity into each sector. Most of the contracts for longer-term
reconstruction assistance in each of the six sectors were not signed until
summer 2003, due to delayed funding, limiting what USAID could achieve
in that fiscal year.
20
Originally, USAID planned to conduct projects in four sectors: agriculture, education,
health, and democracy. However, its priorities changed over time; the first long-term
projects were implemented in the infrastructure and economic governance sectors.
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The following presents U.S. efforts in each sector. The goals listed in
figures 10–16 portray USAID’s goals and objectives as stated in early
planning and reporting documents. Since many of the projects created
under the six sectors continued work begun through the quick-impact
projects, USAID has not disaggregated their achievements. We include
information on some quick-impact projects, as well as longer-term
reconstruction projects. Also, since USAID does not track expenditures by
the six sectors, we do not include information on total amounts spent by
sector.
Figure 10: Infrastructure Rehabilitation
Goal:
Promote economic recovery and
political stability in Afghanistan by
repairing selected infrastructure
Objectives:
• Construct or rehabilitate
physical infrastructure items
• Build institutional capacity
Source: GAO (analysis); USAID (photo).
Infrastructure rehabilitation. By the end of fiscal 2003, USAID had built or
rehabilitated several physical infrastructure projects, most notably the
Kabul–Kandahar road. Many of the early physical infrastructure projects
handled through the quick-impact programs used local or low-technology
procedures in order to speed implementation. For example, the OTI
projects applied stone, gravel, and dirt to improve transport over secondary
and tertiary roads. By contrast, a contract for the longer-term
Rehabilitation of Economic Facilities and Services infrastructure program
(REFS), signed in September 2002, provided engineering and construction
services for the production of paved roads and seismically sound buildings.
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The Kabul-Kandahar road, a U.S. presidential priority, represents a
significant political symbol within Afghanistan and is the main transport
route for north-south trade from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean. In about
17 months, under the REFS contract, USAID contractors demined, graded,
and installed the first layer21 of pavement on a segment of highway
stretching 389 kilometers (approximately the distance from Washington,
D.C., to New York, N.Y.).22 As a result, travel between the two cities was
reduced from several days to about 6 hours. The road requires two more
layers of asphalt and the construction of bridges and culverts; the
estimated project completion date is October 2004. The prime contractor
for the REFS program was also responsible for constructing schools and
clinics listed as objectives under the education and health sectors.
However, as of the end of fiscal 2003, although OTI and the PRTs built and
rehabilitated schools and clinics, none of the more sophisticated buildings
included in the infrastructure contract had been built.
In addition to the USAID infrastructure projects, State identified
communications as an infrastructure element essential to meeting the longterm security needs of Afghanistan. USAID provided for voice and e-mail
communication between the central government in Kabul and all 32
provinces by installing a high-frequency radio communications network.
The U.S. Trade and Development Agency provided short-term advisors to
create a strategic plan for telecommunications development. By October
2003, two telephone companies had established service in Afghanistan, but
according to USAID and others, connectivity was still unreliable.
21
The first phase of the Kabul-Kandahar highway was inaugurated on Dec. 16, 2003.
22
The total length of the highway is 482 kilometers. The Japanese aid agency repaired an
additional 50 kilometers leading into Kandahar. The remaining 43 kilometers had been
repaired under the Taliban.
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Figure 11: Economic Governance
Goal:
Improve economic management
and develop institutions for
economic governance
Objectives:
• Provide long-term technical support
designed to promote development
and implementation of major reforms
• Human capacity development and
dissemination of improved economic
policy and public administration
practices
Source: GAO.
Economic governance. When the U.S. government began its reconstruction
efforts in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank—
necessary to set fiscal policy and handle the country’s reconstruction cash
flow, respectively—were operating at an elementary level. USAID helped to
reestablish the Ministry of Finance, create a central bank of Afghanistan
and a new currency, and reform the customs process. To do this, USAID
awarded a contract for its Sustainable Economic Policy and Institutional
Reform Support program in November 2002. Under the program, USAID
helped rehabilitate the ministry building and provided advisors to retrain
the bank’s staff. In addition, USAID helped the central bank establish and
distribute a new national currency (the “afghani”). This involved collecting
and destroying an estimated 13 trillion of the greatly devalued, previously
existing afghanis and the disparate currencies printed by warlords. USAID
supported the commercial bank sector by assisting in legal and regulatory
reform and training financial sector officials. As a result, international
commercial banks began to receive licenses in the fall of 2003. Further,
USAID helped to partially rehabilitate the Kabul customs house and airport
customs facilities, streamline customs processes, and establish a tax
identification number system for traders. Despite these and other efforts
aimed at encouraging the provinces to remit revenue to the central
government, according to the UN and others, warlords continued to keep
large portions in their own regions, undermining the authority of the
central government.
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Figure 12: Health Care
Goal:
Reduce Afghan deaths by using a
community-based, low-cost, low-tech
public health approach to the
problems of malnutrition, acute respiratory,
diarrheal and other infectious diseases
Objectives:
• Improve maternal and child health
• Educate Afghans on public health
issues
• Guide public health policy
• Train lower level health care providers
• Repair or construct health facilities
Source: GAO.
Health care. In November 2002, USAID, with assistance from the UN
Population Fund, Japan’s aid agency, and the European Commission,
completed a comprehensive assessment of health facilities, services,
personnel, and supplies available throughout the country. This effort
helped Afghanistan's Ministry of Health to establish a national health
strategy and national health priorities. All grants for health sector activities
must address the priorities established in the ministry’s strategy. The study
found that Afghanistan has approximately one health facility per 27,000
inhabitants. It also established that nearly 40 percent of existing basic care
facilities employ no female health workers. (According to cultural norms, it
is taboo for women to receive care from male health care workers.)
Other health achievements included providing grants to NGOs to operate
over 160 health facilities—covering an area where 3.9 million Afghans
live—constructing or rehabilitating 140 health facilities, training over 1,700
health workers, participating in the campaign to immunize 90 percent of
the population against measles, and improving approximately 3,600 rural
potable waterworks. To expand U.S. support for Afghanistan’s health
sector goals, USAID established its Rural Expansion of Afghanistan’s
Community-Based Health Care program through a contract signed in May
2003, as a continuation of previously begun work.
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Figure 13: Education
Goal:
Reestablish educational opportunities
Objectives:
• Provide educational material
• Train teachers
• Rebuild educational facilities
Source: GAO.
Education. By the end of fiscal year 2003, USAID, through quick-impact
projects, had repaired or constructed approximately 200 schools, provided
more than 25 million textbooks, trained over 3,000 teachers, and
supplemented approximately 50,000 teachers’ salaries with vegetable oil.
(The oil represented 26 percent of the teachers’ monthly income.) To assist
Afghanistan with longer-term education goals, USAID created the
Afghanistan Primary Education Program through a contract signed in June
2003. Early efforts in this program included developing and beginning to
disseminate an accelerated learning curriculum for girls, who were not
educated under the Taliban.23 USAID plans to train 30,000 classroom
teachers between fiscal years 2003 and 2006. The prime education
contractor in charge of the training referred to the educators it will train as
“mentors” because they will not have the same qualifications as formally
trained teachers.
23
USAID’s teacher training program has two facets: (1) a “master trainer” seminar for
educators, who in turn are expected to educate other teachers in their vicinity with the new
teaching methods, and (2) a distance-learning curriculum in which teacher classes are
broadcast over the radio. The distance-learning radio shows began broadcasting in August
2003.
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Figure 14: Agriculture
Goal:
Ensure a secure food supply, promote valueadded and exportable production, and stimulate
jobs in rural areas and the market towns nearby
in order to reinvigorate the rural economy
Objectives:
• Create good economic policy particularly for
market oriented agricultural price policy,
food safety, and export promotion
• Help farmers reestablish production
• Improve water accessibility for crops
• Promote non-farm income generation
• Rehabilitate key rural infrastructure
Source: GAO.
Agriculture. Through quick-impact projects, USAID helped farmers
reestablish agricultural production by distributing approximately 9,300
metric tons of seed and 12,400 metric tons of fertilizer,24 and by
rehabilitating more than 7,000 rural irrigation structures. USAID also
helped improve the rural economy by repairing over 70 bridges and tunnels
and more than 7,000 kilometers of secondary and tertiary roads and by
employing the equivalent of 1 million Afghans for 1 month. In July 2003, the
agency awarded a contract for the Rebuilding Agricultural Markets
Program, aimed at increasing the food security and incomes of the rural
population. However, as of October 2003, work under this contract had not
yet begun.
24
Afghanistan’s Minister of Agriculture estimated that the country needed about 500,000
metric tons of fertilizer for the 2002–2003 crop year.
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Figure 15: Democracy Strengthening
Goal:
Strengthen the national
government and develop local
capacity and an increasingly
robust civil society
Objectives:
• Support the Bonn Process
• Broaden participation in the
political process
• Enhance media capacity and
information access
• Promote rule of law
• Rehabilitate key infrastructure
Source: GAO.
Democracy strengthening. USAID established two democracy and
governance programs, one to help implement the political goals set by the
Bonn Agreement and the other to bolster the civil society, media, and
political parties. Through the beginning efforts of these programs, in
conjunction with the quick-impact activities, the United States provided
key technical assistance, civic education, and logistics support for the
emergency loya jirga (grand council) to establish the interim government,
and for the second loya jirga to ratify a new constitution. USAID also
provided over 130 advisers to the Afghan ministries and funded
approximately 880 staff positions. In addition, USAID supported the
creation of radio stations and trained over 320 journalists to aid the
development of a free and independent media. As of October 2003, USAID
and the international community had helped the Afghan government
establish judicial reform, human rights, and constitutional commissions.
Further, USAID commissioned designs for a provincial courthouse and a
judicial complex in Kabul. USAID’s cooperative agreement with the
Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening, establishing
the democracy strengthening program, was not signed until July 2003.25
25
Italy is the lead nation for judicial sector reconstruction.
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Figure 16: Gender Equity
Goal:
Integrate gender equity into all activities
Objectives:
• Ensure participation of Afghan women in USAID
programs and Afghan government instututions
• Support literacy, health, economic and agricultural
programs that address women and girls
• Strengthen the capacity of relevant ministries to
build a national constituency of women
• Support capacity building for Afghan women's
NGOs and groups
• Assist constitutional, judicial, and human rights
commissions to advance the rights of women
• Work through local institutions to address gender
concerns in all sectors
• Coordinate donors assisting women-related and
gender programs
• Provide technical assistance on gender issues to
the Consultative Group process
Source: GAO.
Gender equity. USAID did not create separate women’s projects but rather
included elements promoting gender equity in its programs.26 For example,
some quick-impact infrastructure projects incorporated women’s labor into
the construction process. In Kunduz, where USAID helped a community
build a retaining wall, women participated and earned income by making
wire screens to contain rocks placed in the wall by the men. In addition,
USAID facilitated the involvement of women in the loya jirgas (women
accounted for 20 percent of the delegates at the December 2003
constitutional loya jirga) and in the Afghan government by rehabilitating
15 day care centers in ministry buildings to encourage Afghan women to
return to work. USAID also encouraged the return of girls to the classroom
by creating an accelerated education program.27 USAID also made maternal
care one of its primary health goals. However, Afghan society still limits
women’s travel and work, which complicates attempts to educate, train, or
provide medical care to them, and nearly 40 percent of existing health care
26
The Afghanistan Freedom Support Act of 2002 authorized $15 million to be appropriated
for programs to assist Afghan women and girls.
27
Under the Taliban regime, girls were not allowed to attend school. Consequently, many
girls are older than the average age for their education level. The accelerated learning
program attempts to bring them up to speed and reintegrate the girls into regular classroom
settings.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
facilities employ no female health workers. Further, several girls’ schools
have been set on fire to protest educating women, and a female loya jirga
representative’s life was threatened when she expressed her negative
opinion about the government’s collaboration with warlords.
Coordination
Mechanisms
Established, but U.S.
Strategy and Financial
Data Were Incomplete;
International
Assistance
Coordination
Remained Weak
In fiscal years 2002–2003, the U.S. government established several
mechanisms to coordinate its assistance effort in Afghanistan, but it lacked
a comprehensive reconstruction strategy. Although U.S. agency officials
characterized coordination as effective overall, some problems occurred.
In addition, key operational components of the strategies intended to guide
the reconstruction effort were incomplete or were not drafted until the
latter half of fiscal 2003. Further, coordination officials lacked complete
and accurate financial data needed for effective program management.
Meanwhile, international assistance coordination was weak in 2002, with
limited improvements introduced through the consultative group
mechanism in 2003.
U.S. Efforts Were
Coordinated, but Minor
Problems Occurred
U.S. assistance to Afghanistan in fiscal years 2002–2003 was coordinated
through a number of mechanisms; however, some problems occurred. U.S.
efforts were coordinated in Washington through the Afghanistan
Reconstruction Office, the Policy Coordinating Committee, the Deputies’
Committee, and the Principals’ Committee, and in Afghanistan through the
U.S. Embassy country team. (See fig. 17.) According to Department of State
officials, interagency coordination among the Afghanistan Reconstruction
Office, agencies delivering assistance, and the embassy country team was
routine and daily. In addition, these officials stated that the formal,
hierarchical, interagency committee structure provided a uniform process
for making policy-level decisions and keeping the President informed.
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Figure 17: Major U.S. Interagency Afghan Assistance Coordination Mechanisms In Use During Fiscal Years 2002–2003
Principals’ Committee
Composition:
Roles:
Chair:
Meeting frequency:
Secretary-level officials from U.S. departments and agencies involved in Afghanistan
Making decisions on proposals developed by Deputies' Committee, resolving
interagency disputes, providing information on policy, reporting to the President
National Security Council
Monthly and as needed
Deputies’ Committee
Composition:
Roles:
Chair:
Meeting frequency:
Deputy Secretaries from the U.S. departments/agencies involved in Afghanistan
Making decisions on proposals developed by the Policy Committee, resolving
interagency disputes
National Security Council
Weekly
Policy Coordinating Committeea
Composition:
Roles:
Chair:
Meeting frequency:
Operational-level personnel from executive branch U.S. departments involved in Afghanistan
Developing policy options on, among other things, assistance sectors to target, allocation
of assistance funds, strategies for increasing international donor support, and the role of the PRTs
Coordinator for U.S. Assistance/National Security Council
Weekly
Working committees
Department of State
Department of State (South Asia Bureau)
Afghanistan Reconstruction Officeb
Composition: Headed by the Coordinator for U.S. Assistance to
Afghanistan (ambassador rank) and six staff.
Roles:
Daily coordinating U.S. assistance, developing policy
options for Policy and Deputies' Committees,
developing assistance budgets
South Asia Bureau
Afghanistan/
Pakistan/
Bangladesh Desk
Intra-Agency Meetings
U.S. Embassy Country Teamc
Composition: Representatives of U.S. agencies with personnel
stationed, or on temporary duty, in Afghanistan
Roles:
Daily coordinating U.S. policy and assistance efforts
in Afghanistan
Chair:
Ambassador
Provincial Reconstruction Teams
Meetings of staff within U.S. agencies including USAID
and the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, and State
Civilian officials from the Departments of State and Agriculture
and USAID work with U.S. and foreign military personnel,
provincial offices of the Afghan national government, and local
community leaders to identify and implement assistance projects
Source: GAO analysis of information provided by the Department of State (data); Nova Development (clipart).
a
In October 2003, a national security decision directive eliminated the Policy Coordinating Committee
and established the Afghanistan Interagency Operating Group in its place.
b
In October 2003, the Afghanistan Reconstruction office became the Office for Afghanistan. The
office’s functions are codified in section 104 of the Afghanistan Freedom Support Act. The office
subsumed the Afghanistan Desk.
c
In October, the Afghanistan Reconstruction Group was established within the U.S. Embassy, Kabul.
U.S. officials from several agencies we spoke to stated that, overall, the
U.S. government’s coordination of the Afghan assistance effort in fiscal
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years 2002–2003 was effective. According to officials from USAID and the
Departments of Agriculture, State, and Commerce, coordination efforts
were successful and the policy coordination committee succeeded in
bringing all of the agencies together to discuss pertinent issues and make
collective decisions. USAID’s former mission director in Afghanistan
emphasized that the daily meetings of the country team and other
assistance sector–based teams ensured good coordination within the
embassy.
Although U.S. officials stated that coordination among agencies was
generally good, several cited examples of coordination problems. For
example, USAID officials said that whereas USAID worked closely with
Afghan government ministries on the selection and location of projects, the
PRTs focused on projects chosen by local authorities. Consequently, the
PRTs implemented projects that were not included in national plans
developed by the central government.28 In addition, USAID officials and
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials confirmed that
coordination problems involving the two organizations’ efforts in
Afghanistan’s health sector had occurred. Specifically, HHS rehabilitated
the Rabia Balkhi Hospital in Kabul, rather than focus efforts on rural health
clinics where the Afghan Ministry of Health and USAID had determined the
need for assistance was greater. In another example, Department of State
staff stated that USAID did not share information on its demining activities
and that staff turnover and inconsistent operating procedures within the
Department of Defense made coordinating demining efforts difficult.
Strategic Guidance Was
Incomplete, Financial Data
Was Lacking
The U.S. government’s strategies for directing its reconstruction efforts in
Afghanistan evolved during fiscal years 2002–2003, and key operational
components of the strategies were incomplete or not drafted until the latter
half of fiscal year 2003.29 In addition, coordination officials lacked complete
and accurate financial data needed for effective program management.
28
In 2003, USAID and the Department of State began placing staff in PRTs in part to improve
coordination and assist in project selection.
29
In previous analyses of postconflict assistance efforts, we found that a strategy that both
looks beyond a country’s immediate situation and operationalizes ongoing efforts is
essential for effectively implementing an assistance program. From 1994 to 2004, We have
done extensive work assessing postconflict assistance. Our report, Foreign Assistance:
Observations on Postconflict Assistance in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, GAO-03980T (Washington, D.C.: July 18, 2003), summarizes the broad issues identified and contains
a bibliography of selected postconflict-related reports.
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Strategic Guidance Evolved Over
Time
Various strategies pertaining to U.S. assistance efforts were developed
during the fiscal 2002–2003 period. Several levels of strategies, from the
President’s office down to the USAID mission, are designed to guide U.S.
assistance efforts in Afghanistan, focus resources, and hold agencies
accountable for their efforts.30 In February 2003, the President published a
broad strategy for meeting the immediate and long-term security needs of
Afghanistan in response to the Afghanistan Freedom Support Act
requirements.31 The President’s strategy is intentionally broad and,
therefore, lacks operational details, such as time frames and measurable
goals. In June 2003, 18 months after the signing of the Bonn Agreement, the
Department of State published its first mission performance plan to guide
U.S. efforts in Afghanistan for fiscal years 2003–2006.32 This plan is
organized around five strategic goals for the reconstruction effort and one
management goal pertaining to Department of State facilities in
Afghanistan. The mission plan provides an estimate, by appropriation
account, of the financial resources needed. Further, the plan (1) describes
specific tactics and activities to be undertaken and assigns responsibility
for each activity to USAID and other offices of the agencies housed within
the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan and (2) defines baseline data,
performance indicators, and targets for achieving each performance goal.
As the key U.S. agency for reconstruction of Afghanistan, USAID is
responsible for developing a more detailed strategy and subordinate plans
and programs to carry out its responsibilities.
30
The National Security Strategy, published in September 2002, broadly presents the United
States’ core national security objectives and includes foreign assistance as one of a wide
range of initiatives to achieve these objectives. The latest consolidated Department of
State/USAID strategic plan, published in August 2003, supports the National Security
Strategy, presents worldwide priorities for both organizations, and includes four broad
objectives for Afghanistan. Country-specific strategies are intended to support the broader
goals contained in the National Security Strategy and Department of State/USAID strategic
plan.
31
See Afghanistan Freedom Support Act, Title II, Section 206(c)(1)(A). The act also requires
that the President semiannually submit to the congressional committees cited in the act a
status report on the implementation of the strategy.
32
A mission performance plan is an authoritative, integrated interagency country strategy
document, prepared by the U.S. embassy country team. Despite the agriculture sector’s
importance to Afghanistan’s recovery and one of the major sectors targeted by USAID, the
performance plan completed in June 2003 does not address rehabilitation of Afghanistan’s
agriculture sector.
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USAID Strategy Lacked
Operational Details
The USAID mission in Afghanistan developed an interim strategy and
action plan in August 2002. However, these documents did not clearly
articulate measurable goals or provide details on time frames, resources,
responsibilities, objective measures, or means to evaluate progress for
each of the sectors targeted by the strategy.33 USAID directives require that
interim strategies include a description of how or when the strategy would
be replaced by a standard strategic plan. The interim strategy for
Afghanistan does not contain the required description. USAID’s guidelines
and directives state that country-level strategies and plans should address,
among other things, strategic objectives, key country-level problems,
programmatic approaches, baseline data and targets, performance
indicators and the means to measure progress, fundamental assumptions,
and resources required to implement the plan. Although USAID developed
a number of measurable goals for various sectors during fiscal years 2002–
2003, these goals and the resources and methods designed to achieve them
were included in numerous project documents and contracts rather than
stated in a comprehensive strategy as called for by USAID guidelines.
Further, according to USAID officials, although USAID Washington
reviewed the strategy and action plan, the documents were not vetted
through USAID’s standard strategy review process; instead an abbreviated
process was used to assess clarity, feasibility, compliance with agency
policies, delineation of expected results, and congruency with available
resources. The former mission director in Afghanistan stated that the time
and resources needed to develop and approve a strategy through the
normal USAID operating procedures were not available when the strategy
documents were developed and that a waiver for meeting standard
strategy-related requirements was granted in February 2002.34
33
All of these components are required in USAID’s standard strategic plans. USAID
directives allow the use of interim strategic plans in countries experiencing high uncertainty
because of drastic political, military, and/or economic events. According to USAID
directives, a strategy should be developed prior to the implementation of assistance
activities. Waivers are available for countries with special foreign policy interest, are valid
for 1 year, and can be renewed annually. See USAID Guidelines for Strategic Plans
(Washington, D.C.: February 1995); USAID Functional Series 200–Programming Policy
Automated Directives System 201–Planning (Washington, D.C.: January 2003).
34
Section 201.3.4.5 of the USAID Automated Directives System provides that in special
foreign policy situations where activities must be initiated prior to completion and approval
of a strategic plan, a temporary 1-year exemption may be issued.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
In January 2003, USAID officials responsible for the agency’s efforts in
Afghanistan requested a second waiver and promised to draft a strategy
according to USAID guidelines within 6 months of the waiver’s approval.
According to USAID documents, no strategy was drafted because the
situation in Afghanistan was too dynamic, preventing USAID from taking a
proactive approach to its efforts including the development of a strategy. A
third waiver was approved in February 2004 that exempts USAID from
developing the strategy until February 2005. As a result, more than 3 years
will have passed between the time USAID began providing postconflict
assistance to Afghanistan and the completion of a USAID assistance
strategy for Afghanistan. The lack of a complete country strategy impedes
USAID’s ability to ensure progress toward development goals, make
informed resource allocation decisions, and meet agency and
congressional accountability reporting requirements on the effectiveness
of agency programs.
Comprehensive Financial Data
Was Not Readily Available
The coordinator for U.S. assistance to Afghanistan, as well as others
responsible for the coordination of U.S. assistance, lacked complete and
accurate financial data in fiscal years 2002–2003. Program managers need
financial data to, among other things, monitor performance, allocate
resources, and determine whether strategic goals are being met. Further,
relevant information needs to be identified, collected, and distributed in a
form and time frame so that duties can be performed efficiently.35 Most of
the agencies providing assistance to Afghanistan could not readily provide
complete or accurate data on assistance obligations and expenditures, and
some agencies were unable to disaggregate the information by fiscal year
or province. Consequently, over the course of our review, we worked with
the agencies to obtain reliable data. In fiscal years 2002–2003, the
Coordinator’s office did not require U.S. agencies to regularly report
obligation and expenditure data.36 As a result, the Coordinator for U.S.
Assistance to Afghanistan lacked information that could have helped
decision-makers manage the overall assistance effort, including the
targeting of resources to key efforts.
35
U.S. General Accounting Office, GAO Internal Control: Standards for Internal Control in
the Federal Government, GAO/AIMD-00-21.3.1 (Washington, D.C.: November 1999).
36
In December 2003, the Department of State began collecting obligation data from U.S.
agencies providing assistance to Afghanistan. However, Department of State officials
acknowledged that the obligation tracking efforts do not include all U.S. government
agencies and are not updated on a regularly scheduled basis. In addition, the agency tracks
only obligation, not expenditure, data.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
International Assistance
Coordination Was Weak
Despite efforts to synchronize multiple donors’ efforts, coordination of
international assistance was weak in 2002 and problems remained in
2003.37 The Bonn Agreement urged donors to defer responsibility for
assistance coordination to the Afghan government. According to the UN,
coordination is the responsibility of the Afghan government; efforts by the
aid community should reinforce national authorities; and the international
community should operate, and relate to the Afghan government, in a
coherent manner rather than through a series of disparate relationships.38
In April 2002, the Afghan government initiated efforts to exert leadership
over the highly fragmented reconstruction process. To accomplish this
task, the government published its National Development Framework,
which provided a vision for a reconstructed Afghanistan and broadly
established national goals and policy directions. In addition, the Afghan
government established a government-led coordination mechanism, the
implementation group, to bring coherence to the international community’s
independent efforts and broad political objectives. The mechanism’s
structure was based on the National Development Framework. Individual
coordination groups, led by Afghan ministers and composed of assistance
organizations, were established for each of the 12 programs in the
framework.
The implementation group mechanism proved to be largely ineffective. In
August 2002, officials from the Afghan government, the UN, the
Department of State, and USAID, as well as a number of nongovernmental
bodies, expressed concern over the lack of meaningful and effective
coordination of assistance in Afghanistan. For example, the Ministers of
Foreign Affairs, Rural Rehabilitation and Development, Irrigation, and
Agriculture stated that the donor community’s effort to coordinate with the
government was poor to nonexistent. The ineffectiveness of the
implementation group mechanism resulted from its inability to overcome
several impediments. First, each bilateral, multilateral, and
nongovernmental assistance agency had its own mandate (established by
implementing legislation or charter) and sources of funding, and each
donor pursued development efforts in Afghanistan independently. Second,
37
According to the UN, assistance coordination refers to a recipient government’s
integration of donor assistance into national development goals and strategies.
38
United Nations, Immediate and Transitional Assistance Program for the Afghan People
(January 17, 2002).
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
the international community asserted that the Afghan government lacked
the capacity and resources to effectively assume the role of coordinator
and, that these responsibilities therefore could not be delegated to the
government. Third, no single entity within the international community
had the authority and mandate to direct the efforts of the myriad bilateral,
multilateral, and nongovernmental organizations providing assistance.
In December 2002, the Afghan government replaced the implementation
group with the consultative group mechanism to increase the effectiveness
and efficiency of assistance coordination in support of the goals and
objectives in the National Development Framework.39 The consultative
group mechanism in Afghanistan is similar to the implementation group in
(1) its National Development Framework–based hierarchical structure and
stated goals, (2) the role of the Afghan government, and (3) the
membership and leadership of sector-specific groups.40 (See fig. 18.)
39
Consultative group is a World Bank term used to describe a process of consultations
between the government of a recipient developing nation and the international community.
Typically, the process involves monthly group meetings in country on sectoral or thematic
issues. Such working groups bring together interested parties, including ministry
representatives, donors, nongovernmental organizations, and UN agencies, to discuss
strategic planning and improve coordination.
40
Additional U.S. efforts to coordinate its assistance with that of the international
community and the Afghan government included the biweekly humanitarian assistance
conference call among relevant Afghan government, U.S., and international organizations
providing humanitarian assistance and the Department of Defense’s Civil Military
Coordination cell located in Kabul. The cell’s role is to coordinate PRT assistance efforts
with the Afghan government.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Figure 18: International Afghan Assistance Coordination Mechanisms, Fiscal Years
2002–2003
Implementation
group
Consultative
group
2002
2003 -
Afghan
Reconstruction
Steering Group
Afghan high-level
strategic forum
Afghan Development
Forum meeting of the
Consultative Group
Implementation
Group
Implementation
Group Standing
Committee
Consultative Group
Standing Committee
12 program
groups
12 program
Consultative
Groups
4 national security
Consultative
Groups
12 program
secretariats
12 program
Consultative Group
secretariats
4 national security
Consultative Group
secretariats
6 advisory
groups
Source: GAO analysis of U.N. and Afghan government information.
By the end of fiscal year 2003, the consultative group had not surmounted
the conditions that prevented the implementation group from effectively
coordinating assistance. In an August 2003 review of the status of the
consultative group process, the Afghan government stated that the terms of
reference for the sectoral groups were unclear and too broad, the groups
were too large and lacked strong leadership, member commitment was
uneven, and the overall potential of the mechanism was not utilized. In
October 2003, the Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development stated
that the consultative group process had not yet proven effective, that the
consultative groups were too large to be effective decision-making bodies,
and that assistance organizations continued to implement projects not
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included in the Afghan government’s national budget and priorities. The
Minister of Agriculture stated that despite the efforts of consultative groups
to coordinate donor efforts, donor governments and assistance agencies
continued to develop their own strategies and implement projects outside
the Afghan government’s national budget.
Achievement of U.S.
Goals Uncertain Given
Precedents, Obstacles
The attainment of the U.S. goal of a stable, democratic Afghanistan
remained uncertain given the historical precedents and the current Afghan
environment, where numerous obstacles threatened reconstruction efforts
in fiscal years 2002–2003. Afghanistan exhibits many of the characteristics
that other nations have faced in their efforts to transition from a
postconflict environment to a stable democracy. In fiscal years 2002–2003,
deteriorating security and increasing opium cultivation in particular
jeopardized U.S. reconstruction efforts, and efforts to counter these
obstacles have had little success. Other hindrances to U.S. reconstruction
efforts in Afghanistan during this period included small staff size,
inadequate working conditions and equipment, and the timing of funding
for reconstruction activities. In September 2003, the U.S. government
announced an initiative called “Accelerating Success” to increase funding
and expedite projects.
Afghanistan Exhibits
Characteristics That
Threatened Success in
Other Postconflict Nations
Afghanistan displays many of the characteristics that have obstructed
transitions to peace and stability in other postconflict countries. Analyses
conducted by various experts on postconflict reconstruction have
identified a number of such characteristics, including multiple competing
parties, valuable and disposable resources such as opium, and a weakened
state.41 In addition, our past work has shown that despite variations in
postconflict situations, efforts to rebuild require a secure environment,
adequate resources, and the support of the host government and civil
society.42 Figure 19 compares characteristics of Afghanistan that we—and
experts from the World Bank and other nongovernmental institutions—
found to have affected reconstruction in other postconflict countries.
41
According to the World Bank, of the 52 countries that have experienced civil conflict since
1960, 44 percent relapsed into violence within 5 years.
42
U.S. General Accounting Office, Foreign Assistance: Observations on Postconflict
Assistance in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, GAO-03-980T (Washington, D.C.: July 18,
2003).
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Figure 19: Postconflict Characteristics That Impeded Stability in Other Countries
Versus Afghanistan
Pervasive Insecurity
Threatened Reconstruction
Terrorist attacks by the Taliban and al Qaeda and the criminal activity of
warlords contributed to the overall environment of insecurity throughout
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Afghanistan and threatened the U.S. reconstruction effort in fiscal years
2002–2003. In March 2002, in a report to the UN Security Council, the UN
Secretary General stated that security will remain the essential requirement
for protecting the peace process in Afghanistan. In a report to the council 1
year later, he identified security as the most serious challenge to the peace
process. Others in the international community, including the United
States, recognize security as a prerequisite for the implementation of
reconstruction efforts.
According to UN, nongovernmental organization, and U.S. reports, the
security situation deteriorated throughout 2003. Incidents over the 2-year
period included
• numerous skirmishes between coalition, al Qaeda, and Taliban troops in
the border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan;
• the attempted assassinations of the Minister of Defense and the
President;
• the assassination of Vice President Qadir;
• the murder of an International Committee of the Red Cross worker;
• attacks on contractors working on USAID’s Kabul-Kandahar road
project that resulted in 14 injuries and 9 deaths;
• rocket attacks on U.S. and international military installations;
• sniper fire and grenade attacks on UN and nongovernmental
organization vehicles and offices; and
• bombings in the center of Kabul and Kandahar, at the International
Security Assistance Force headquarters, and of UN compounds.43
The increase in violence against aid organizations forced suspensions of
assistance activities. For example, attacks against deminers forced the UN
to suspend all humanitarian demining activities in 10 provinces in May 2003
43
As of July 2003, the International Security Assistance Force reported having approximately
4,600 troops located in Kabul. These troops provide security only for the city of Kabul and
the immediate vicinity. The bombing killed 4 soldiers and wounded 29 others.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
including demining activities along the Kabul–Kandahar road. Similarly, the
killings of three nongovernmental organization staff in August 2003 and a
UN High Commissioner for Refugees staff member in November 2003
resulted in, among other things, the agency’s removing its international
staff and its reduced ability to deliver assistance to refugees and internally
displaced people.
Furthermore, the criminality of the warlords’ private armies continued to
destabilize the country and impede reconstruction, according to the
Department of State, the UN, Human Rights Watch, and other international
experts. The warlords foster an illegitimate economy fueled by the
smuggling of arms, drugs, and other goods. They also, in violation of the
Bonn Agreement, control private armies of tens of thousands of armed men
and illegally withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in customs duties
collected at border points in the regions they control, depriving the central
government of revenues needed to fund the country’s central government
and reconstruction effort. Repeated violent clashes among the warlords
continued throughout fiscal years 2002–2003, forcing USAID and other
assistance agencies to periodically suspend their assistance activities in the
affected areas. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the
United States uses warlord-commanded militias in its continuing
counterinsurgency effort against the Taliban. The militia forces also
provide security for PRTs. For example, troops commanded by one of the
warlords in control of Hirat and its adjoining provinces provide security to
U.S. civil affairs units stationed in Hirat.
The United States and the international community have taken several
steps to improve security in Afghanistan. First, beginning in 2002, the
Department of Defense established PRTs in several locations in
Afghanistan. These company-sized units of 50 to 100 soldiers were charged
with enhancing security over immense geographical areas in an effort to
create a safe environment for reconstruction activities. For example, the
PRT in Gardez, with 77 security personnel and 52 other personnel, had an
area of responsibility that covered five provinces with a total land area of
70,000 square kilometers—an area about the size of South Carolina.
Nongovernmental organization officials, as well as others, have criticized
the size of the PRTs, stating that the units were too small to provide
security for their areas of responsibility or create a secure environment for
reconstruction projects.
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In 2002, Department of Defense began funding efforts to help establish a
national army in Afghanistan. As of late fiscal 2003, its efforts to train the
first corps of the new army had fallen behind schedule, due in part to
higher than expected rates of attrition among Afghan recruits. As of
September 2003, approximately 5,500 soldiers had been trained. In 2003,
the Department of State and the German government (the designated lead
nation for police training in Afghanistan) began implementing plans to train
20,000 Afghan police by June 2004 and 50,000 by the end of 2005. By March
2004, 9,000 officers received training. Finally, the U.S. government
considers the demobilization and reintegration of the warlords’ forces a
prerequisite for improving the country’s security and succeeding in the
international recovery effort.44 According to the Department of State, this
program is critical to efforts to reduce the destabilizing presence of these
militias. As of March 2004, 5,200 soldiers had been disarmed.
Opium Production
Threatened Stability
The illicit international trade in Afghan opiates also threatened
Afghanistan’s stability during fiscal years 2002–2003. The drug trade
provided income for terrorists and warlords, fueling the factions that
worked against stability and national unity.45 According to UN and
International Monetary Fund estimates, in 2002, Afghan farmers produced
3,422 metric tons of opium, providing $2.5 billion in trafficking revenue.
This amount was equal to 68 percent of the total international assistance to
Afghanistan disbursed for that year, or nearly 4.5 times the Afghan
government’s 2003 operating budget.46 In 2003, UN estimates indicated that
opium production in the country increased to approximately 3,600 metric
tons, the second largest harvest in the country’s history. Further, heroin
laboratories have proliferated in Afghanistan in recent years. As a result of
the increased poppy production and in-country heroin production, greater
resources were available to Afghan criminal networks and others at odds
with the central government. According to the Department of State, at the
provincial and district levels, drug-related corruption is believed to be
44
The Japanese government leads demobilization efforts.
45
In 2001, the United States estimated that the Taliban collected at least $40 million in taxes
on opium.
46
Revenue to farmers was estimated at $1.2 billion, while revenue to traffickers was
estimated to be $1.3 billion. Total income from opium cultivation and trafficking accounted
for approximately 40-60 percent of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product and is roughly
equal to the value of Afghanistan’s legitimate trade.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
pervasive. Involvement ranges from direct participation in the criminal
enterprise, to benefiting financially from taxation or other revenue streams
generated by the narcotics trade.47 The International Monetary Fund and
Afghanistan’s Minister of Finance have stated that the potential exists for
Afghanistan to become a “narcostate,” in which all legitimate institutions
are infiltrated by the power and wealth of drug traffickers.
The overall increase in opium production in 2002-2003 occurred despite the
counternarcotics efforts implemented by the Afghan government48 and a
number of international donors. During the 2-year period, the Afghan
government and the international community, with funding from the United
Kingdom and the United States, instituted alternative livelihood and poppy
eradication programs in Afghanistan.49 Total U.S. funding dedicated to
counternarcotics was $23.4 million in fiscal 2002. The Department of State
did not request or receive funding for counternarcotics efforts in fiscal
2003. Although the programs failed to stem the increase in opium
production, the long-term effects of these programs remain to be seen.
Inadequate U.S. Resources
Hindered Reconstruction
During fiscal years 2002–2003, limited resources further obstructed U.S.
reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. The USAID mission in Kabul was
insufficiently staffed to carry out its responsibilities. In addition,
inadequate working conditions and equipment—including cramped
workspace, limited mobility, and unreliable communications and
transportation equipment—hindered the implementation of assistance
activities. Further, most reconstruction funding was not available until
mid–fiscal year 2003. To help expedite reconstruction efforts and create
more visible results, the U.S. initiated an “Accelerating Success” program in
fiscal year 2004.
47
Department of State International Narcotics Control Strategy Report–2003 (Washington,
D.C.: March 2004).
48
On January 17, 2002, the President of Afghanistan issued a decree stating that the
existence of an opium-based economy was a matter of national security and should be
fought by all means. In October 2002, the Afghan government instituted a Counter-Narcotics
Directorate within its National Security Council to coordinate counternarcotics efforts. In
May 2003, the President of Afghanistan signed a national counternarcotics strategy.
49
The United Kingdom is the lead nation for counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan. U.S.
efforts included several alternative development/crops projects, including a program
intended to restore cotton production in Helmand province, the traditional center of opium
production in Afghanistan.
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Lack of Staff Prevented
Management and Oversight of
Assistance Efforts
The USAID mission in Kabul was inadequately staffed to accomplish its
management and oversight responsibilities. In its August 2002 action plan
for assistance to Afghanistan, USAID stated that the number of positions it
was allotted (12 slots) through the embassy’s staffing allocation process
was clearly inadequate to design and implement the large program planned
for Afghanistan. USAID’s mission in Afghanistan managed a $505 million
program in 2003, one of the largest in the world; however, its staff size is
one of the smallest. On average, an overseas USAID mission has a staff of
73 and a budget of approximately $51 million, or one staff member per
about $700,000. In Afghanistan, that ratio in fiscal year 2003 was
approximately one staff member per about $13 million. Although USAID/
Kabul indicated in its 2003 staffing plan that it needed 113 staff, only 39 of
these positions were filled during the year.
In its March 2003 risk assessment, USAID’s Inspector General cited delays
in the assignment and retention of qualified personnel as one of three
material weaknesses in USAID’s system of management controls in
Afghanistan.50 It also reported that the risks associated with this material
weakness were amplified by, among other things, the magnitude of the
funding being provided to Afghanistan and the pressure to implement
projects in extremely short time frames. In August 2003, we reported that
as a result of the decreases in U.S. direct-hire foreign service staff levels,
increasing program demands, and a mostly ad hoc approach to workforce
planning, USAID faces several human capital vulnerabilities, including the
lack of a “surge capacity” to respond to emergencies such as postconflict
situations in Afghanistan and Iraq.51
Because of the small number of USAID staff in Afghanistan and the
numerous vacancies, staff members were often required to work long
hours and take on additional responsibilities. For example, from March
2002 through June 2003, USAID’s General Development Officer also
periodically served as USAID’s Acting Deputy Mission Director and Acting
Mission Director and as the Department of State’s Acting Deputy Chief of
Mission and Chargé d’Affaires. During our visit in October 2003, USAID’s
mission had been without a Director for two months. At the time, the
50
U.S. Agency for International Development, Risk Assessment of Major Activities
Managed by USAID/Afghanistan, 5-306-03-001-S (Manila: USAID, 2003).
51
U.S. General Accounting Office, Foreign Assistance: Strategic Workforce Planning Can
Help Address Current and Future Challenges, GAO-03-946 (Washington, D.C.; Aug. 22,
2003).
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Acting Mission Director was also the Cognizant Technical Officer
overseeing the largest USAID project in Afghanistan. USAID tried to
compensate for the gaps by deploying staff to Kabul on temporary duty.
However, this did not ensure the continuity needed to administer a
program effectively and efficiently.
As a result of the small staff size, staff members were overworked and
found it difficult to keep up with their myriad responsibilities, including
monitoring and evaluating projects.52 The lack of monitoring was
evidenced by the USAID staffs’ inability to provide us with the exact
location of the projects we asked to visit. In its December 2003 midterm
program assessment of projects in Afghanistan, OTI noted that deficiencies
in monitoring at construction sites contributed to a high rate of faulty
construction, serious post-construction problems, and added costs.
Inadequate Working Conditions
and Equipment Constrained
Assistance Efforts
Inadequate working conditions and equipment—such as cramped
workspace, limited mobility, and unreliable communications and
transportation equipment—also hindered the implementation of assistance
activities. In its August 2002 action plan for Afghanistan, USAID stated that
without adequate working and living space, it might not be able to achieve
its goals. In its March 2003 risk assessment for USAID activities in
Afghanistan, USAID’s Inspector General cited unsuitable working and
living conditions as material weaknesses, stating that existing conditions in
Afghanistan were “unsuitable for carrying out program design and
implementation in an effective and efficient manner.” During our visit in
October 2003, we found that staff at the USAID mission faced severe space
constraints. For example, we observed as many as eight USAID staff, their
files, and office furniture and equipment sharing one small office. USAID
took steps to obtain additional space at the embassy and in other U.S.
locations in Kabul, but it was not available during fiscal year 2003.
In addition, Department of State security restrictions, imposed due to
increasing levels of insecurity, severely limited USAID staff’s ability to
travel to field sites and monitor ongoing reconstruction efforts. In its March
2003 assessment, USAID’s Inspector General cited the security restrictions
as another material weakness, stating that staff members are not able to
travel to project sites and monitor project implementation in an adequate
manner with the frequency required. To improve its ability to monitor field
52
USAID considers monitoring of its assistance effort critical for measuring the achievement
of program outputs and results.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
sites, USAID contracted for program managers through the International
Organization for Migration (IOM).53 Although some IOM staff contracted by
USAID are U.S. citizens, they are not bound by the same security rules as
direct-hire USAID staff and, therefore, can visit projects in the field.
However, despite this action, we found that USAID was unable to
adequately monitor projects.
The limitations on mobility made communications capability essential.
However, according to U.S. and international officials in Afghanistan, email and cellular phone service is intermittently reliable within Kabul and
less reliable between provinces, making it difficult to contact staff and
contractors in the field. PRT staff stated that they lacked adequate mobile
secure communications equipment, and some had to purchase their own
geographic positioning systems.
In addition, PRT staff in the field relied on old vehicles that the United
States leased from local vendors. The frequent breakdown of the vehicles
and the lack of replacement parts severely limited staff’s ability to carry out
their responsibilities. For example, according to PRT officials we spoke
with, most of the vehicles used are approximately 10 years old—with some
having logged more than 100,000 miles—break down frequently, and are
not designed for the rigorous terrain of Afghanistan. For example, senior
PRT officials in Hirat told us that, in 2003, they made two unsuccessful
attempts to reach Chaghcharan, the capital of Ghor, the province adjoining
Hirat province. During a third attempt, one vehicle experienced 14 flat tires
in 3 days.54 The PRT staff said that because the vehicles were in such poor
condition, the staff spent much of their time on the road searching for
spare parts and repairing vehicles instead of identifying assistance needs
and implementing projects.
Funding Delays Slowed
Reconstruction Efforts
Although the United States provided significant humanitarian assistance to
Afghanistan in fiscal 2002, very little money was available to USAID for
reconstruction until the second half of fiscal year 2003. USAID considers
adequate funding a prerequisite for the success of the reconstruction effort.
However, according to USAID officials, because they did not know when
53
IOM was established in 1951 as an intergovernmental organization to resettle European
displaced persons, refugees, and migrants. Today it engages in a variety of migration
management activities throughout the world.
54
The distance between Hirat and Chaghcharan is approximately 200 miles.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
they would receive additional funding, they were unable to develop and
plan for long-term resource-intensive reconstruction projects and instead
focused on short-term projects that required less money; some of these
served as pilots for the longer-term projects begun later in fiscal year 2003.
During fiscal years 2002–2003, funding for reconstruction projects in
Afghanistan was allocated to USAID programming offices in four
increments. According to USAID, an initial allotment for $52 million for
reconstruction was made in February 2002; at the time, the programming
offices were assured that more funding was imminent. About 8 months
later, USAID obtained an additional $40 million; however, some of the
money was used for emergency winterization measures, such as providing
food and shelter, to stave off another humanitarian crisis. Since there was
no Afghanistan— specific request for fiscal 2002, $80 million was
supplemental funding, while the remaining $12 million was reprogrammed
funds from existing assistance accounts. As a result, USAID was able to
initiate only two major reconstruction programs, infrastructure
rehabilitation and the reform and development of economic governance, by
the first anniversary of the Bonn Agreement in late 2002.55 In contrast, the
rate of funding for rebuilding Iraq was much faster. Specifically, in less
than 1 month after the U.S. announced an end to major hostilities in Iraq,
USAID obligated $118 million for reconstruction activities from the Iraq
Relief and Reconstruction Fund account. By the end of December 2003, 7
months later, USAID obligated about $1.5 billion for Iraq reconstruction
from this account.
Although there was no specific request for funding for Afghanistan
included in the President’s fiscal year 2003 budget, funding became
available when Congress appropriated $295.5 million for Afghanistan in
February 2003. USAID officials reported that the allotments from this
appropriation began in April 2003, and USAID targeted about $265 million
toward longer-term reconstruction projects and $30 million for short-term
projects. In April 2003, Congress passed the fiscal 2003 supplemental
appropriations bill that included $167 million for Afghanistan. The
allotments from this appropriation began in June 2003. All of this funding
was used for longer-term reconstruction. (See fig. 20.)
55
To expedite its program in Afghanistan, USAID obtained waivers that authorized, among
other things, other than fully competitive procedures for awarding grants and cooperative
agreements, and for the procurement of goods and services. According to USAID
documents, these waivers allowed USAID to award its contracts for infrastructure
reconstruction and economic governance within 5 and 6 weeks, respectively.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Figure 20: Time Line of USAID Funding for Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan
MONEY
8/02:
Infrastructure
contract
finalized
Dollars in millions
400
11/02:
Economic
governance
contract finalized
5/03 - 7/03:
5 additional
contracts
finalized
350
$265
300
2/02:
USAID
receives
first
tranche
of funds:
$52
250
200
150
100
10/02:
USAID
receives
second
tranche
of funds:
$40
50
4/03:
Funds
become
available
to
USAID to
allocate
6/03:
Funds become available
to USAID to allocate
$167
0
FY01
9/11/01
FY02
12/01:
10/01:
Operation Bonn
Enduring Agreement
Freedom
begins
EVENTS
9/17/01:
Emergency
Response Fund
appropriations a
No amount
specified explicitly
for Afghanistan
APPROPRIATIONS
FY03
6/02:
Establishment
of the
Transitional
Islamic State
of Afghanistan
FY04
9/03:
Accelerating
Success
announced
1/10/02: FY02
Foreign Operations
appropriations b
8/2/02: FY02
supplemental
appropriations d
2/20/03: FY03
consolidated
appropriations e
4/16/03: FY03 wartime
supplemental
appropriations f
No amount
specified
explicitly for
Afghanistan
No amount
specified
explicitly for
Afghanistan
$295.5 million specified
explicitly for Afghanistan
in law; about $265 million
used for reconstruction
$167 million specified
explicitly for Afghanistan
in law; all used for
reconstruction
1/04:
New Afghan
constitution
ratified
9/04:
Elections
scheduled
1/10/02: FY02
Emergency Response Fund appropriations c
$50 million was appropriated for Afghanistan from amounts made available in
P.L. 107-38; about $40 million used for reconstruction
Funds available for allocation to Afghanistan
Reconstruction contract signed
Source: GAO analysis.
a
Public Law 107-38, 2001 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Recovery from and
Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States
b
Public Law 107-115, Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Act, 2002
c
Public Law 107-117, Department of Defense and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for
Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States Act, 2002
d
Public Law 107-206, 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act for Further Recovery From and
Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States
e
Public Law 108-7, Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003, and for Other Purposes
f
Public Law 108-11, Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act 2003.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Because of the delays in funding during the 17-month period following the
signing of the Bonn Agreement, USAID had to cancel projects, reallocate
funding from some projects in order to keep other projects operating, and
delay the implementation of 5 of its 7 major reconstruction contracts until
spring and summer of 2003. According to USAID officials responsible for
the management of USAID’s assistance to Afghanistan in fiscal years 2002–
2003, if funding had been provided sooner and in greater amounts, major
contracts could have been awarded sooner, a greater number of projects
could have been implemented over the 2-year period, and more results
could have been achieved.
Rate of International Donor
Funding Was Also Slow
The funding provided by the United States in fiscal years 2002–2003 was
part of the larger international reconstruction effort in Afghanistan. The
Afghan government estimated that Afghanistan needs $30 billion over the 5year period 2004–2008 for what it defines as high-priority reconstruction
efforts. According to the Center on International Cooperation, as of May
2003, $947 million of the international disbursements had been used to
begin reconstruction projects. Despite Afghanistan’s stated need and the
importance that the United States and the international community
assigned to the reconstruction effort, Afghanistan received significantly
less international assistance over fiscal years 2002–2003 than was provided
during the first 2 years of other recent postconflict, complex emergencies
over a similar time period. According to analyses by the International
Monetary Fund, RAND Corporation, and others, Afghanistan received
about $67 in annual per capita assistance in 2002 and 2003; by contrast, the
annual per capita aid provided during the first 2 years in other recent
postconflict settings was greater. For example, annual per capita assistance
was $256 in East Timor (1999–2001) and $249 in Bosnia (1995–1997). At the
October 19, 2003, meeting of the Consultative Group Standing Committee,
the Afghan government warned the international community that the
reconstruction effort might fail and that success would occur only if the
rate of international obligations were increased and national
reconstruction projects were fully funded.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Accelerating Success Initiative
Designed to Increase Funding for
Reconstruction
The U.S. government announced in September 2003 a new initiative called
“Accelerating Success,” to increase funding and expedite the
reconstruction efforts, particularly regarding infrastructure,
democratization and human rights, and security. The initiative was
designed to be implemented in the 9-months leading up to the presidential
elections planned for June 2004.56 The U.S. government plans to provide
$1.76 billion57 for the acceleration effort. Approximately $1 billion of that
amount would provide funding for elections, major and secondary road
construction, health and education programs, economic and budget
support to the Afghan government, senior advisers and technical experts,
and private sector initiatives. The remaining $700 million would be targeted
toward building the Afghan National Army, training and equipping the
police force, expanding the counternarcotics program, and establishing
rule of law.58 Funding for the initiative was appropriated in November 2003;
however, USAID did not receive the money until January/February 2004,
leaving only 7 months to complete visible reconstruction projects before
the September election. Moreover, the need to evaluate projects quickly
will increase under the initiative, but no additional funds have been
included for this purpose.
In April 2003, prior to the “Accelerating Success” initiative, at the request of
President Karzai, the United States decided to complete the first layer of
pavement of the Kabul-Kandahar road by December 2003 instead of
December 2005. Under the original plan, the estimated cost to bring the
road up to international standards was $113 million; the United States
pledged $80 million, while Saudi Arabia and Japan each pledged an
additional $50 million. In shortening the timeline by 2 years, the United
States assumed responsibility for 389 kilometers of the 482-kilometer
distance.59 (See fig. 21.) Consequently, the United States hired several more
56
In late March 2003, President Karzai announced that the election would be postponed until
September 2004.
57
The “Accelerating Success” program provides an extra $1.63 billion, in addition to the
regular fiscal 2004 request, and $135 million in drawdown authority provided in the
Afghanistan Freedom Support Act.
58
The international community at a conference in Dubai pledged approximately $125 million
in new money in late 2003. Consequently, the United States encouraged other donors to
accelerate the rate at which they give their initial pledges so that the impact of
reconstruction can be felt before Afghanistan’s 2004 elections.
59
Japan assumed responsibility for the remaining 50 kilometers leading into Kandahar. The
remaining 43 kilometers had been repaired during the Taliban rule.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
subcontractors, increased the labor and security forces, imported
additional equipment, and tapped the world market of asphalt. The first
layer of pavement was completed about 17 months after the contract was
signed, and the road opened on December 16, 2003. By the time in 2004 that
contractors lay the final layers of asphalt, repair the road’s bridges, and
construct the culverts, USAID projects that the road’s total cost to the
United States will be $270 million, more than double the original cost
estimate, due to accelerating the project.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Figure 21: Division of Responsibility for Repairing the 482-kilometer KabulKandahar Highway
Samangan
Kabul
Baghlan
Nangahar
Parwan
Kabul
43 kilometers
Wardak
Paktia
Lowgar
Khost
Bamian
Ghor
A F G H A N I S TA N
Ghazni
Paktika
389 kilometers
Oruzgan
Zabul
PA K I S TA N
Helmand
Kandahar
50 kilometers
Kandahar
Repairs previously
completed by Taliban
United States repairs
N
Japanese repairs
Unrepaired road
Source: GAO.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Conclusions
After 23 years of war, the reconstruction needs of Afghanistan are
immense. Since the fall of the Taliban regime in October 2001, the United
States has viewed the establishment of a stable, democratic Afghanistan as
essential to U.S. national security. The United States, in cooperation with
the international community, is attempting to rebuild Afghanistan and help
the country become a stable and functioning democracy. U.S.-led efforts in
fiscal years 2002–2003 helped avert a humanitarian crisis; however,
conditions in Afghanistan, such as the deteriorating security situation, the
relative weakness of the central government, and the increase in opium
production, complicate the longer-term reconstruction process and
threaten its ultimate success. In addition, despite a consensus that
reconstruction assistance is essential to achieving the U.S. goal in
Afghanistan, most funding for reconstruction in fiscal years 2002–2003 was
not allocated until 17 months after the signing of the Bonn Agreement. This
delay, as well as a lack of staff and equipment, further hindered U.S. efforts.
Consequently, overall progress towards Afghanistan’s reconstruction goals
by the end of fiscal year 2003 was limited.
The President’s broad strategy published in February 2003 and reported on
semiannually states that success in Afghanistan demands that the U.S.
government follow a coherent, consistent, and closely coordinated
strategy. However, for most of fiscal years 2002–2003, the United States
lacked such a strategy. In addition, USAID, which provided the majority of
U.S. assistance to Afghanistan, lacked a complete operational strategy to
guide its nonsecurity-related efforts, making it difficult for the agency to
integrate projects, focus available resources, and be held accountable for
achieving measurable results. The need for such a strategy has become
more vital given that, between August 2002 and July 2003, USAID awarded
seven major multiyear reconstruction contracts worth hundreds of millions
of dollars. Further, most of the U.S. agencies providing assistance to
Afghanistan did not have readily available comprehensive financial data on
their efforts, limiting the ability of individuals and institutions charged with
coordinating and overseeing the assistance to execute these
responsibilities.
Recommendations for
Executive Action
We recommend that the Administrator of USAID revise its strategy for the
agency’s assistance program in Afghanistan. The revised strategy should,
among other things, (1) contain measurable goals, specific time frames,
and resource levels; (2) delineate responsibilities; (3) identify external
factors that could significantly affect the achievement of its goals; and (4)
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
include a schedule for program evaluations that assess progress against the
strategy’s goals.
In addition, to improve oversight of U.S. assistance to Afghanistan, we are
making two recommendations to the Secretary of State. We recommend
that the Secretary of State direct the Coordinator for U.S. Assistance to
Afghanistan to (1) produce an annual consolidated budget report for all
assistance to Afghanistan and (2) semiannually report obligations and
expenditures for the assistance provided, delineated by relevant U.S.
agencies and the bureaus and offices within each agency semiannually.
Agency Comments and
Our Evaluation
We provided a draft of this report to the Departments of State and Defense
and to the U.S. Agency for International Development. State’s and USAID’s
written comments are presented in appendixes VI and VII, respectively.
State and USAID generally concurred with much of the information
presented on the situation in Afghanistan for the period covered by our
review. State emphasized that despite security and other challenges,
significant progress had been made, not only with respect to humanitarian
and short-term assistance, but also in advancing long-term security,
reconstruction, and governance objectives. USAID stated that the report
presented a fair picture of the situation in Afghanistan at the end of fiscal
year 2003, when USAID’s large reconstruction efforts were just beginning.
Both agencies included in their response additional information on more
recent activities taken and progress made. The Department of Defense did
not provide official written comments, but provided technical comments,
as did USAID, that we have incorporated where appropriate.
In response to our recommendation that USAID revise its operational
strategy for Afghanistan to include details such as measurable goals,
timeframes, and required resources, USAID said that its less
comprehensive interim strategy was appropriate given the situation in
Afghanistan during the early phases of the ongoing efforts. While we
recognize in the report that the strategy was an interim strategy, the need
for a more complete strategy is vital due to the large increase in USAID
assistance funding for Afghanistan. USAID said that it is committed to
developing a standard strategic plan for Afghanistan during 2004, which
would be consistent with our recommendation. The Department of State
disagreed with our finding that the United States lacks a complete and
integrated assistance strategy, citing its December 15, 2003 report to
Congress, titled Fiscal Year 2004 Strategic and Financial Plan for
Reconstruction and Related Activities in Afghanistan. In the plan, State
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
noted that the United States is pursuing a three-fold strategy in
Afghanistan, focusing on security, reconstruction, and governance. We
found that most of the strategies that were published in fiscal years 2002
and 2003 lacked details on funding and other resources, measurable goals,
timeframes, as well as a means to measure progress. However, in the
report, we also cite State’s June 2003 Mission Performance Plan as meeting
many of the requirements for a government-wide operational strategy.
Although the fiscal year 2004 plan cited by State in its comments includes
more details on the U.S. assistance budget for Afghanistan, like some of the
previously published strategies, it lacks operational details, including time
frames, measurable goals, and a means to measure progress toward those
goals.
In response to our recommendation that State produce an annual
consolidated budget for all U.S. assistance to Afghanistan and report to
Congress semiannually on obligations and expenditures, State emphasized
that policymakers are provided with information on U.S. obligations
weekly, and that close interagency collaboration occurs regarding all
funding issues. In addition, State said that it already keeps Congress
regularly informed through staff briefings, hearings, and mandated reports.
We disagree. As we reported, complete and readily accessible obligation
and expenditure data were not available, and consequently, it is difficult for
the Coordinator to determine the extent to which U.S. assistance dollars
are being used to achieve measurable results in Afghanistan. Moreover, we
found that government-wide expenditure data on U.S. assistance to
Afghanistan is not collected, obligation data is collected on an ad hoc basis,
and that the Coordinator’s office experienced difficulty in consistently
collecting complete and accurate obligation data from U.S. government
agencies. Further reporting obligation data alone is insufficient. Obligation
data measures the extent to which contracts have been awarded, orders
placed, and similar transactions, not the extent to which money actually
has been spent on the ground on visible projects. Consequently, reporting
obligations alone does not provide an accurate portrayal of the progress of
the assistance effort. For example, as our report shows, although $647
million was obligated for reconstruction projects in fiscal 2002 and 2003,
less than a third of the total, or $214 million was actually spent. Regular
reporting of both obligations and expenditures for U.S. assistance to
Afghanistan would provide the Coordinator and Congress a more complete
picture of what funds actually have been spent on visible projects.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
We are sending copies of this report to other interested congressional
committees. We are also sending copies to the Administrator of USAID, the
Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense. We also will make copies
available to others upon request. In addition, the report will be available at
no charge on the GAO Web site at http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact me
at (202) 512-3149. Other GAO contacts and staff acknowledgements are
listed in appendix VIII.
David Gootnick, Director
International Affairs and Trade
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix I
Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
AA
ppp
ep
ned
nx
idx
eIis
Section 106 of the Afghanistan Freedom Support Act of 2002 directs GAO
to monitor U.S. humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan.
To meet the requirements of the directive and provide Congress with a
comprehensive accounting of U.S. assistance to Afghanistan for fiscal years
2002–2003, we (1) analyzed U.S. obligations and expenditures; (2)
identified the results of assistance projects through September 30, 2003; (3)
evaluated U.S. and international assistance coordination mechanisms and
the U.S. assistance strategy; and (4) examined the major obstacles that
affected the achievement of U.S. policy goals and the reconstruction effort.
We collected data on fiscal years 2002 and 2003 obligations and
expenditures from the U.S. departments and agencies responsible for
implementing U.S. government–funded projects in Afghanistan. These
include U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human
Services, State, and Treasury; the U.S. Trade and Development Agency; and
the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Because there is
no single repository of financial information for all U.S. assistance in
Afghanistan, we contacted each agency directly. In addition, because the
Department of State does not have a consolidated financial reporting
mechanism for programs in Afghanistan, we contacted each bureau and
office separately—including the Bureaus of Population, Refugees, and
Migration, and International Narcotics and Law Enforcement; and the
Offices of International Information Programs, Humanitarian Demining
Programs, and Trafficking in Persons.
To determine which funds were applied to humanitarian and quick-impact
projects and which were applied to longer-term reconstruction funding, we
requested the agencies to designate their funding accordingly. In the case
of USAID, we relied on the stated mission of the responsible funding
bureau to make the determination. For example, the missions of the Office
of Foreign Disaster Assistance and Office of Transition Initiatives include
addressing emergency situations and implementing quick-impact projects,
respectively.
Since USAID did not provide separate financial management records for
fiscal years 2002 and 2003, we, in consultation with USAID, sorted the
obligation and expenditure data by year to arrive at the fiscal year
breakdowns that appear in this report. The Department of Defense was
unable to disaggregate PRT project data by fiscal year. The fiscal 2002
obligations and expenditures in the report include only funds spent on
humanitarian daily rations, while the fiscal 2003 figures include all PRT
funds in 2002 and 2003.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix I
Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
To delineate how funding and projects were distributed by province, we
combined information from both USAID and the Department of Defense.
USAID provided the information from a programmatic, rather than a
financial database, as the financial database did not include data by
location. Because the programmatic database had been updated only to
September 17, 2003, the numbers used for figure 5 are less than the total
obligations reported as of September 30, 2003. However, according to
USAID, it can be assumed that the proportion of assistance by province did
not change during that time lag. Also as a result of the data being drawn
from a programmatic database, we are unable to show expenditures by
province, because the database tracks only obligations.
To assess the reliability of the obligations and expenditures data from U.S.
agencies providing assistance to Afghanistan, we (1) interviewed officials
at the Departments of Defense, State, and USAID regarding their methods
of gathering, managing, and using data; (2) reviewed USAID’s financial
audit statement; and (3) compared the data we gathered with USAID’s
Congressional Budget Justifications and the Department of State’s 150
account documentation, as well as with the government-wide Afghanistan
assistance compilation done by the Department of State’s Resource
Management bureau. A Department of State official stated that the data
State compiled are not completely accurate, due in part to the lack of a
requirement for all agencies to report to one central office on a regular
basis, which results in variation in the frequency of reporting by individual
agencies and differences in how agencies track data. However, the
Department of State relies on these data for decision-making purposes and
to track how quickly money for Afghanistan is being used. Based on our
assessment, we conclude that the data are sufficiently reliable for the
purposes of showing, in gross numbers, the level of nonsecurity-related
assistance that the U.S. government provided to Afghanistan in fiscal years
2002 and 2003.
To assess the reliability of the data on the pledges and disbursements made
by international donors, we (1) interviewed the official at the Department
of State who is responsible for compiling these data based on information
provided by the Government of Afghanistan and (2) performed some basic
reasonableness checks of the data against other sources of information.
We determined that the data are sufficiently reliable for the purpose of
making a broad comparison of the United States’ contributions to those of
other major donors and the combined total for all other donors. However,
we also noted several limitations in the data, notably the fact that the data
are largely self-reported by donor nations to the Afghan government and
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix I
Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
are affected by differences in exchange rates. In addition, donors both
over- and under-report due to varying definitions of disbursement.
Furthermore, the data on larger donors are considered more reliable than
the data on smaller donors, according to the Department of State. Due to
these limitations, and the fact that we could not contact each of the donors,
we were unable to determine the reliability of the precise dollars amounts
pledged and disbursed by every donor. Nevertheless, because these are the
only available data and are used by the Department of State, we present the
dollar amounts reported to have been pledged and disbursed by each donor
in appendix V.
To examine the results of assistance projects through September 30, 2003,
we collected and analyzed information from the Departments of State and
Defense, and USAID in Washington, D.C., which outlined policy goals, basic
strategies, program objectives, and monitoring efforts. We also collected
and analyzed pertinent reports and testimony these agencies presented to
Congress. In October 2003, we traveled to Afghanistan to examine the
implementation of USAID and the Department of Defense’s assistancerelated operations. While in country, we spent 13 days in the capital city,
Kabul, interviewing officials from the Afghan Ministries of Finance, Health,
Agriculture, and Rural Rehabilitation and Development; the Afghan
commissions on Human Rights and the Judicial Reform; the UN Assistance
Mission in Afghanistan; the UN Development Program (UNDP); and the
U.S. Departments of State and Defense and USAID. We also met with most
of USAID’s primary implementing partners (including the Louis Berger
Group, Creative Associates, Management Sciences for Health, and Bearing
Point) as well as nongovernmental organizations not funded by the United
States, such as the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit and the
Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees. In Kabul, we inspected
Afghanistan’s new banking system, customs house, and the rehabilitation
of the Rabia Balkhi Women’s Hospital. We also spent a total of 7 days in the
Bamian, Kunduz, and Hirat provinces, where we inspected U.S.-funded
projects, implemented primarily by either the OTI or the Department of
Defense’s PRTs. While in the provinces, we met with an Afghan shura
(community council), teachers, and other community members involved in,
or affected by, U.S. reconstruction projects. Constraints placed on our
movement within Afghanistan by the U.S. Embassy due to security
concerns limited the number of project sites we could visit.
To analyze the assistance coordination mechanisms developed by the U.S.
government and the international community, we met with Department of
State staff responsible for assistance coordination and staff from USAID,
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix I
Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
and the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Health and
Human Services, Labor, Treasury, and State involved in the provision of
assistance, to obtain their views on coordination. In addition, we reviewed
the U.S. National Security Strategy, the Department of State/USAID
consolidated strategic plan for 2004-2009, the President’s Security Strategy
for Afghanistan, the U.S. Embassy Kabul Mission Performance Plan, and
USAID’s strategy and action plan for Afghanistan. Using the criteria
contained in the U.S. Government Performance and Results Act and USAID
Automated Directives System, we examined USAID strategies to determine
whether they contained the basic elements of an operational strategy
articulated in the act and in agency guidance. Our analysis of international
coordination mechanisms included a review of UN and Afghan government
documents, including the Afghan National Development Framework and
Budget, pertaining to the international coordination mechanisms utilized in
Afghanistan in fiscal years 2002–2003. In addition, we met with officials
from the Afghan Ministries of Agriculture, Finance, Health, and Rural
Rehabilitation and Development to obtain their views on the evolution and
status of the consultative group mechanism.
To analyze the obstacles that affected the implementation of U.S.
reconstruction assistance, we examined analyses of common obstacles
found in postconflict environments produced by the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace, the Center for Strategic and International Studies,
the World Bank, Stanford University, and the RAND Corporation. We also
reviewed as previous GAO work on the subject. We then compared those
obstacles with the conditions present in Afghanistan in fiscal years 2002–
2003. In addition, we reviewed reports produced by the Departments of
Defense and State, the UN, the International Crisis Group, Human Rights
Watch, the Bonn International Center for Conversion, as well as a U.N.
Office on Drugs and Crime report on opium production in Afghanistan. To
analyze other obstacles, including the lack of staff, equipment, and funding,
we spoke with officials from the Department of Defense and USAID. In
addition, we examined appropriation legislation, USAID’s Congressional
Budget Justifications, and the Inspector General’s risk assessment of major
activities managed by USAID/Afghanistan. Finally, we visited the USAID
mission in Kabul, Afghanistan, and PRTs in Bamian, Kunduz, and Hirat,
Afghanistan.
We conducted our review from August 2003–April 2004 in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards.
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GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix II
Summary of the Key Provisions of the Bonn
Agreement
Appendx
iI
After coalition forces ousted the Taliban government, the United Nations
(U.N.) convened four Afghan groups to establish a blueprint for a
power-sharing, interim government;1 the Taliban were not included in these
talks. The resulting document, officially entitled the “Agreement on
Provisional Arrangements in Afghanistan Pending the Re-establishment of
Permanent Government Institutions,” commonly called the Bonn
Agreement or the Bonn Accord, was signed in Bonn, Germany on
December 5, 2001.
I.
General provisions
• Establish an Interim Authority by December 22, 2001.
• Establish the composition, functions, and governing procedures for
the interim administration.
• Convene an emergency loya jirga,2 or grand council, within 6 months
of December 22, 2001 to decide on the Transitional Authority, which
will govern until the Afghan population elects a representative
government.
• Decide on a Transitional Authority by the emergency loya jirga until
such time as a fully representative government can be elected
through free and fair elections within 2 years of the convening of the
emergency loya jirga.
• Hold constitutional loya jirga to establish a new constitution within
18 months of December 22, 2001.
1
Afghanistan comprises both settled and nomadic populations, multiple religious and ethnic
groups, and refugees. A new representative government would need to incorporate all of
these groups.
2
A loya jirga is a traditional grand assembly of elders, which has been used in Afghanistan
for centuries.
Page 62
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix II
Summary of the Key Provisions of the Bonn
Agreement
II. Legal framework and judicial system
• The 1964 constitution and existing laws and regulations should be
applied until the new constitution is written, excepting
• where provisions of 1964 constitution are inconsistent with the Bonn
Agreement, or relate to the monarchy or constitutional, executive,
and legislative bodies
• where existing laws and regulations are inconsistent with the Bonn
Agreement, Afghanistan’s international legal obligations, or the 1964
constitution.
• The interim authority shall have power to amend existing laws and
regulations.
• Afghanistan shall have independent judicial power vested in a Supreme
Court and other courts established by the Interim Administration. A
Judicial Commission established by the Administration shall rebuild the
justice system in accordance with Islamic principles, international
standards, the rule of law, and Afghan legal traditions.
III. Interim Administration
• Composition: A chairman will preside over the cabinet-style interim
government, which includes five vice chairmen and 24 other members.
• Procedures: Decisions will be made by consensus, or by majority vote
where necessary, as long as 22 members are present. If the vote is split
equally, the chairman holds the deciding vote.
• Functions: The Interim Authority shall conduct the day-to-day affairs of
state. Among other things, it may, with the assistance of the UN,
establish a single national currency and a central bank, a Civil Service
Commission, a Human Rights Commission, and any other commission
to review matters not covered in the agreement.
Page 63
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix II
Summary of the Key Provisions of the Bonn
Agreement
IV. The Special Independent Commission for the Convening of the
Emergency Loya Jirga
• A 21-member, special, independent commission will be established to
convene an emergency loya jirga within 6 months of the establishment
of the Interim Authority. The emergency loya jirga will decide on a
transitional authority to lead Afghanistan until a fully representative
government is elected within 2 years of the convening of the loya jirga.
V. Final provisions
• Upon official transfer of power, all mujahidin, Afghan armed forces, and
armed groups shall come under the command and control of the Interim
Authority.
• The Interim Authority and emergency Loya Jirga shall act in
accordance with basic human rights and international humanitarian law.
• The Interim Authority shall cooperate in the fight against terrorism,
drugs, and organized crime.
• The Interim Authority and Special Independent Commission for the
convening of the emergency Loya Jirga shall ensure the participation of
women and the equitable representation of all ethnic and religious
communities in the Interim Authority and emergency Loya Jirga.
• The Interim Authority shall adhere to Security Council resolution 1378.
• The Interim Authority shall elaborate on rules of procedure for the
government as appropriate with UN guidance.
Annexes:
I. International Security Force
II. Role of the United Nations during the Interim Period
III. Request to the United Nations by the Participants at the UN talks on
Afghanistan
IV. Composition of the Interim Administration
Page 64
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix III
Summary of the Afghanistan Freedom
Support Act of 2002
Name
Afghanistan Freedom Support Act of 2002, P.L. 107-327
Date
December 4, 2002
Major titles
I. Economic and Democratic Development Assistance for Afghanistan
Appendx
Ii
II. Military Assistance for Afghanistan and Certain other Foreign
Countries and International Organizations
III. Miscellaneous provisions
Purposes
• Assure U.S. security.
• Address humanitarian crisis.
• Fight illicit narcotics.
• Promote a broad-based, multi-ethnic, gender-sensitive, and fully
representative government.
• Support Afghan government’s projects.
• Foster civil society.
• Support reconstruction (create jobs, clear landmines, rebuild the
agriculture, health care and educational sectors).
• Provide resources to the Ministry for Women’s Affairs.
• Foster a pluralistic society that respects religious freedom.
Major types of assistance
authorized
• Urgent humanitarian needs
• Repatriation and resettlement of refugees and IDPs
• Counternarcotics efforts
Page 65
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix III
Summary of the Afghanistan Freedom
Support Act of 2002
• Reestablishment of food security, rehabilitation of the agriculture
sector, improvement in health conditions and the reconstruction of
basic infrastructure
• Reestablishment of Afghanistan as a viable nation-state
• Market economy
• Assistance to women and girls
Table 2: Total assistance authorized: $3.3 billion between FY 2003 and 2006
Dollars in millions
Fiscal years
2003
2004
2005
2006
Total over
4 fiscal years
Development
Assistance
425
425a
425
425
1,700
Enterprise fund
300
0
0
0
300
300b
0
0
0
300
500
500
0
0
1,000
1,525
925
425
425
3,300
Security
assistance
ISAF
Total (per FY)
Source: GAO analysis of data contained in the Afghanistan Freedom Support Act of 2002.
Note: Rough Breakdown of Authorizations by Fiscal Year
a
P.L. 108-106 Sec. 2214 increased the FY 04 alloocation to $1.825 billion.
b
P.L. 108-106 Sec. 2206 ammends this amount to $450 million.
Page 66
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix III
Summary of the Afghanistan Freedom
Support Act of 2002
Table 3: Earmarks: $170 million development assistance of $425 million total
between FY 2003 and 2006
Dollars in millions
Fiscal years
2003
2004
2005
2006
Total over
4 fiscal years
UNDCPa
15
15
15
15
60
Loya Jirga
10
10
10
0
30
Women's
Ministry
15
15
15
15
60
b
NHRC
5
5
5
5
20
Total
45
45
45
35
170
Source: GAO analysis of data contained in the Afghanistan Freedom Support Act of 2002.
Note: Rough breakdown of earmarks for FY 2003-2006. Up to 7% of each earmark is allowed for
federal agency administration costs. In this case, that would be $12 million.
a
U.N. Drug Control Program.
b
National Human Rights Commission (renamed Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission).
Coordination
Designate a coordinator within the Department of State to:
• Design an overall strategy to advance U.S. interests in Afghanistan;
• Ensure coordination among U.S. agencies;
• Pursue coordination with other countries;
• Ensure proper management, implementation, and oversight of
assistance; and,
• Resolve disputes among U.S. agencies with respect to Afghan
assistance.
Page 67
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix III
Summary of the Afghanistan Freedom
Support Act of 2002
Strategies and Reports
Table 4: Required strategies and reports to be submitted to the House Committee on
International Relations, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and both
Appropriations committees
Section 206
Section 303
Promoting secure delivery
of humanitarian and other
assistance in Afghanistan
Schedule
Approximate
deadlines
c(1)(A) Security strategy,
Immediate and long-term
needs (updating strategies
required by P.L. 107-206)a
60 days after
enactment of act
Feb. 2003
c(1)(B) Description of
progress towards poppy
eradication
60 days after
enactment of act
Feb. 2003
c(2) Security strategy
implementation reports
Donor contributions to
Afghanistan
Every 6 months
through 1/07
June and Dec.
2003-2007
Approximate
deadlines
c(1) Initial report (strategy
and progress)
60 days after
enactment
Feb. 2003
Contributions status
90 days thereafter
every 180 days
through 12/31/04
4/03, 10/03, 4/04,
10/04
Schedule
Source: GAO analysis of data contained in the Afghanistan Freedom Support Act of 2002.
a
P.L. 107-206 2002 (Supplemental Appropriations Act for Further Recovery from and Response to
Terrorist Attacks on the United States (required separate strategies for immediate security needs and
long-term security needs.
Sunset
Authority expires after September 30, 2006.
Page 68
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix IV
Fiscal Years 2002-2003 Obligations and
Expenditures for Humanitarian and
Reconstruction Assistance by U.S. Agencies
Appendx
i
IV
Dollars in millions
Agency
U.S. Agency for International Development
Department of State
Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement
Other State
Department of Defense
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Agriculture
Department of Labor
U.S. Trade and Development Agency
Department of Treasury
Broadcasting Board of Governors
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Total
Fiscal year 2002
Obligations
Expenditures
436.34
379.59
145.85
33.59
11.00
50.90
2.74
40.31
6.30
0.35
0.55
28.51
0
756.44
Fiscal year 2003
Obligations
Expenditures
505.64
128.31
142.33
20.86
11.00
50.90
2.74
27.67
0
0.35
0.46
14.09
0
649.99
87.70
0a
8.68
20.27
5.61
29.36
0
3.17
1.12
7.40
3.02
671.97
72.79
0
6.66
13.58
5.61
10.85
0.57
1.59
0.64
6.67
3.02
250.29
Source: GAO analysis of U.S. agency data
a
INL neither received nor requested funding for fiscal 2003.
Page 69
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix V
Major Donors’ Reported Pledges and
Disbursements for Assistance to Afghanistan
for Fiscal Years 2002-2003
Appendx
i
V
Dollars in millions
Country
United States
Japan
European Commission
Total pledges
since 2001a
Total disbursed
since 2001
3300
1428
500
448
1245
386
United Kingdom
331
190
Germany
379
171
Canada
273
129
Netherlands
162
103
World Bank
600
89
Saudi Arabia
220
78
Spain
148
77
Italy
99
70
United Arab Emirates
70
70
India
310
69
Norway
93
63
Sweden
142
45
Denmark
106
45
Iran
500
33
China
152
30
France
62
30
Kuwait
45
20
Qatar
20
20
Australia
20
20
Pakistan
100
18
Finland
32
13
Belgium
34
12
610
11
Austria
12
11
South Korea
45
10
Ireland
12
10
Switzerland
25
9
Asian Development Bank
Luxembourg
5
4
Turkey
15
3
Greece
5
2
Page 70
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix V
Major Donors’ Reported Pledges and
Disbursements for Assistance to Afghanistan
for Fiscal Years 2002-2003
(Continued From Previous Page)
Dollars in millions
Country
Total pledges
since 2001a
Total disbursed
since 2001
Portugal
5
2
60
0
6
0
9,743
3,719
Russia
b
Oman
Total
Sources: Department of State, Asian Development Bank
Notes: Figures cited relate to humanitarian and reconstruction donations only; military donor
contributions are not included.
GAO was not able to determine the reliability of the specific dollar figures in this table. While we
determined that the data are sufficiently reliable for broadly comparing U.S. contributions to those of
major donors, we noted several limitations, namely (a) that they are affected by differences in
exchange rates, (b) donors both over- and under-report due to varying definitions of disbursement, and
(c) the data on larger donors are considered more reliable than the data on smaller donors.
a
Pledges are inclusive from 2001-2003 and have a disbursement range of 1-6 years depending on
donor.
b
Russian assistance has been primarily in-kind donations.
Page 71
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix VI
Comments from the Department of State
Page 72
Appendx
iI
V
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix VI
Comments from the Department of State
Page 73
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix VI
Comments from the Department of State
Page 74
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix VII
Comments from the U.S. Agency for
International Development
Page 75
Appendx
iI
V
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix VII
Comments from the U.S. Agency for
International Development
Page 76
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix VII
Comments from the U.S. Agency for
International Development
Page 77
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix VII
Comments from the U.S. Agency for
International Development
Page 78
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix VII
Comments from the U.S. Agency for
International Development
Page 79
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
Appendix VIII
GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments
GAO Contacts
David Gootnick (202) 512-3149
John Hutton (202) 512-7773
David Bruno (202) 512-7280
Staff
Acknowledgments
In addition to those named above, Miriam A. Carroll, Martin de Alteriis,
Ernie Jackson, Reid Lowe, and Christina Werth made key contributions to
this report.
(320210)
Page 80
Appendx
iVI
GAO-04-403 Afghanistan Reconstruction
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